Citing sources, the HT reported that Doval was in Paris in mid-January and met French President Francois Hollande who came to India as chief guest for the Republic Day parade. The meeting in Paris with Janjua came soon after the Pathankot airbase attack on January 2 carried out by terrorists.
“By the time Doval and Janjua met in Paris, India already had taped evidence of the Jaish’s involvement in the Pathankot attack. Doval told Janjua that Pakistan needed to take effective action against the terror group before the foreign secretaries could meet to take the composite dialogue forward,” a senior official familiar with the development told the paper.
However, HT said it tried to contact Doval but to no avail, while the prime minister office refused to comment.
The two officials had earlier met in Bangkok on December 6.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a surprise “goodwill” visit to arch-rival Pakistan on December 25, with the first such trip in a decade seen as a step towards normalising ties between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
Modi, who announced the trip via Twitter while in Kabul, met in Lahore with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif, who was celebrating his birthday and the wedding of a grand-daughter, for a two-and-a-half hour visit seen by analysts as a positive step.
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