New Delhi:
Pakistan's detention of the chief of the terror group that carried out the deadly and lengthy attack on the Pathankot Air Force Base is being seen as a significant step forward in India, which had suggested crucial talks loosely scheduled for Friday were unlikely to go ahead unless Islamabad took action against the Jaish-e-Mohammed.
Maulana Masood Azhar, the cleric who heads the banned group, was detained two days ago in Pakistan.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi offered "partial kudos" to Pakistan for its move.
The government, however, is reacting with caution to the news of Azhar's detention. Sources point out that though he was jailed in Pakistan for years after India declared him the mastermind of an attack on Parliament in 2001 in which nine Indians were killed, he was later released with the understanding that he would stay largely confined to his base in his home city of Bhawalpur in Pakistan's Punjab province.
There was a loose understanding between India and Pakistan that their Foreign Secretaries would meet on Friday in Islamabad. However, the attack at Pathankot, which killed seven military personnel and injured 20, appeared poised to derail that initiative.
Pakistan has in recent days pledged to get to the bottom of who was behind the assault. India has submitted evidence including phone intercepts and records that it says implicates the Jaish-e-Mohammed.
Today, the office of Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif said in a statement that the government has made "considerable progress" in investigating the attack, and announced it wants to send a team of special investigators to the Pathankot air base in India in consultation with New Delhi.
"Based on the initial investigations in Pakistan, and the information provided, several individuals belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammed, have been apprehended," the office of Mr Sharif said.
"The offices of the organisation are also being traced and sealed. Further investigations are underway," it said.