It is not just the confidence building measures with Pakistan that have taken a hit following the escalating tension on the Indo-Pak border after the killing of two Indian soldiers, but cross-border investigations and counter-terror cooperation has also taken a backseat for now.
The proposed visit of the National Investigation Team (NIA) to Pakistan slated to take place in January has been deferred, government officials said. The NIA was slated to meet the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) sleuths on the 26/11 case and build counter-terror cooperation during its proposed visit to Islamabad this month.
Pakistan interior minister Rehman Malik , who visited New Delhi in December, had said the NIA probing the 26/11 attack is likely to visit Pakistan in mid-January. “No dates have been fixed so far,” an National Investigation Team official said.
This was supposed to be NIA’s first visit to Pakistan and its first ever dialogue with the FIA on the 26/11 case and counter-terror cooperation. Sources said that while there is no word from Pakistan on the proposed visit, the home ministry is also not keen that the visit takes place immediately when the political situation in Pakistan is unstable and the diplomatic ties are under strain due to added tension on the border.
If the situation would have been peaceful, the MHA had particularly been hopeful of the 26/11 investigations in Pakistan moving a step forward with the second visit of its 26/11 judicial commission to India and the NIA’s visit to that country. Pakistan had said the progress of 26/11 trial in that country depends on an early visit of its judicial commission to India.