US wants Pakistan to probe Pathankot attacks sans timeline

Rallying to India’s support in the wake of the terror Pathankot attack, the US has mounted pressure on Pakistan to bring the perpetrators to justice, but has given the latter time to complete the investigation. Pakistani terrorists attacked the Pathankot Indian Air Force base on January 2, days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Lahore. Suggesting that Pakistan should be trusted with the investigations despite its questionable record in the matter, the US said that it understood bringing perpetrators of terrorism to justice can be hard. “I can’t speak for how long it might take them to complete an investigation or the degree to which they intend to be transparent about it after they’ve completed it,” said state department spokesperson John Kirby. “It’s not for us to ascribe a timeline to somebody else’s investigation. Obviously, in all investigations, you want it to be thorough and you want it to be complete. And clearly, we all like them to be done as quick as possible and transparently discussed when it’s complete. But this is for the Government of Pakistan to sort out how long this investigation is going to take,” Mr Kirby added. On being asked if there was a timeline being set by the US for Pakistan to complete its investigations, Mr Kirby said, “It’s not for us to ascribe a timeline to somebody else’s investigation.” Speaking about Pakistan’s commitment to investigate the attacks, Mr Kirby stressed on  Pakistan itself  condemning this attack and expressed their commitment to investigate it. “So let’s let them do that and let’s see where the investigation goes,” Mr Kirby added. With questions being asked about Pakistan’s capability and credibility in investigating terror attacks, the US  said it certainly looks forward to and expects and wants to see a thorough, complete, fair, and transparent investigative process. “We’re going to have to let it work through,” Mr Kirby said.