The Foreign Secretaries are due to meet on the 14th and 15th in Islamabad, though India has not yet officially announced any dates. (File photo)
Ahead of Friday's proposed talks, Pakistan appears to be sending mixed messages to India about how far its government is willing to go in taking action for the deadly attack on the Pathankot Air Force base last week.
In an irritant move for India, Pakistani officials have said that a key component of the evidence supplied by India about the terror attack doesn't check out - the numbers that the six attackers called in the hours before opening fire at Pathankot are not registered in Pakistan, sources said.
To resolve discrepancies and forge a plan for how to tackle the terror investigation, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval may, sources said, meet secretly in the next few days with his counterpart Nasser Khan Janjua in a third country.
In a demonstration of its intent to help India, up to five arrests were reportedly made in South Punjab in Pakistan on Monday, though the government there has not released any information on the identity of the suspects.
Though India had not confirmed the date, there was a loose understanding in recent weeks that talks between the Foreign Secretaries of both countries would be held in Islamabad on Friday - that's no longer possible, India has indicated, unless Pakistan demonstrates "firm and immediate action against those responsible for the air base attack", based on specific and actionable information provided by India.
Pakistani Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif has created a joint committee of his top government, military and intel officers to investigate the evidence handed over by India.