Question: Vikas, you referred to the Prime Minister's first interview to the Times Now. In the same interview he spoke extensively about Pakistan. He spoke about different power centers without naming anybody in Pakistan. Now Sartaj Aziz has also reacted, he has said that it is India which is shying away from the talk process. He has also said that Prime Minister's view/logic are far from the popular perception. How do you react to Sartaj Aziz's comment and also in the context of Nafees Zakaria yesterday stating that they need more evidence on Mumbai 26/11? There are reports of a list of 24 witnesses needed by Pakistan. While there has been no progress on Mumbai 26/11 and Pathankot terror attacks, how does India look at it now?

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: In so far as the comments of Mr. Sartaj Aziz are concerned, I would say that India has never ever shied away from engagement with Pakistan. We are prepared to discuss all outstanding issues with Pakistan bilaterally in an atmosphere free from terror and violence. In fact it is India which has repeatedly taken initiatives to engage Pakistan. You will recall, it was Prime Minister Modi who first invited Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to his oath-taking ceremony on the 26th of May, 2014. Thereafter again it was External Affairs Minister who travelled to Pakistan in December 2015 and held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia Conference which led to the decision to start a Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue with Pakistan. It was again Prime Minister Modi who took the decision to travel to Lahore at very short notice on the 25th of December, 2015.

Foreign Secretary was quite prepared to go to Pakistan in the first half of January this year, to hold initial discussions on the modalities of the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue, but the Pathankot terror incident intervened.

I am sure you will recall what EAM said in her press conference on the 19th of June 2016 that after an incident like Pathankot, it is a natural and legitimate expectation of both the government and the people of India that there should be concrete action from the Pakistani side, which has not denied the involvement of its nationals in the Pathankot attack. Therefore, as the EAM said, we are awaiting concrete investigation to take place at the Pakistani end.

In so far as your other question is concerned about this list of 24 witnesses, our position is very clear. We remain committed to providing all cooperation to Pakistan in terms of expediting the Mumbai attack case trial and bringing all perpetrators to justice. The Pakistan Foreign Affairs spokesman has claimed that their Foreign Secretary has written to our Foreign Secretary. However, no fresh letter has been received in this regard. What he has been referring to, is a letter that was written in September last year. Our Foreign Secretary had replied to that letter. We keep hearing in the media about the so-called list of 24 witnesses, which are required by Pakistan to progress the Mumbai case trial, but so far we have not received any communication from Pakistan conveying the details of these 24 people. Because of our commitment to cooperate with Pakistan in bringing the Mumbai case trial to a speedy conclusion, you can expect further conversations and communications between the two sides in the coming days.