New Delhi

India tonight said it has received no confirmation of the detention of JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar despite widespread reports of his having been apprehended in connection with the Pathankot attack of which he is suspected to be the mastermind.

“We have no official confirmation of the arrest of Masood Azhar,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup told reporters.

Mohammad Zubair, a minister in the Nawaz Sharif government in Pakistan, told an Indian TV channel that he cannot confirm the arrest of Azhar by Pakistani authorities.

Swarup said a decision on whether to go ahead with the Foreign Secretary-level talks with Pakistan on Friday will be taken after tonight’s meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj that was underway.

“The decision(on FS talks) will be taken after the meeting,” Swarup said after Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar’s meeting with Swaraj.

The hectic consultations followed the detention of Azhar and “several individuals” of his terror outfit suspected to be behind the Pathankot attack on January 2.

PTI