Pakistan NSA’s tip off could build greater confidence

NEW DELHI|AHMEDABAD: Even as India awaits the visit by a special investigation team from Pakistan to probe the Pathankot attack Pakistan’s NSA has alerted his Indian counterpart of 10 terrorists sneaking into Gujarat to attack a Ram temple, following which the state has been put on a high alert.

Follow @ETDefence Twitter handle for comprehensive coverage on other buzzing Defence stories

Pakistan’s NSA Nasir Khan Janjua has been in regular touch with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval since they met in Bangkok last December and developed a mechanism on discussing matters pertaining to crossborder terror. It is understood that on Saturday Janjua telephoned Doval to inform that 10 Pak-based terrorist had entered Gujarat with the intention of attacking a Ram temple.



Gujarat went into high alert following the tip off. It has been learnt that the NSA held a meeting with chiefs of intelligence agencies to take stock of the situation as teams of the National Security Guards were rushed to Gujarat.

Police has begun combing operations across the state. A massive security operation has been launched and raids were conducted by a police team, led by South Kutch superintendent of police in border areas.

Januja’s step could be viewed as an effort at building confidence for a meeting between Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif in Washington by early April on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit. Prior to that, the two foreign secretaries are expected since their January 15 meeting in Islamabad was postponed due to the Pathankot terror strikes. However, the FS-level dialogue is dependent on visit by the Pak SIT who will be allowed meetings with Punjab police officials and other officials but will not be allowed entry into Pathankot air force base.