Pathankot attack: India PM Modi urges Pakistan action

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged Pakistan to take action against militants India says are responsible for a recent attack on an air base.

In a phone conversation with his counterpart Nawaz Sharif, he called for an "immediate" response to the assault on the Pathankot base in Punjab.
Mr Sharif promised Pakistan would take "prompt and decisive action against the terrorists", Indian officials said.
Indian troops killed six militants after a four-day battle at the base.
India's Press Information Bureau said India had provided Pakistan with "specific and actionable" information on the attack.
It started on Saturday, when a group of gunmen - wearing Indian army uniforms - entered the residential quarters on the base. Three days of heavy gunfire followed as Indian troops battled the gunmen.
India's Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar told journalists on Tuesday that "all six terrorists were neutralised". But he added that the search at the base was likely to continue for days before it could be declared completely safe.
Mr Parrikar said troops took more than three days to "neutralise the militants" because the air base was huge.

• The Pathankot air force base extends over about 2,000 acres, including some areas covered with tall vegetation.

• The base's commanding officer Air Commodore JS Dhamoon has described it as a "mini-city". It includes homes and a school for the children of air force personnel.

• Pathankot is home to a fleet of MiG-21 fighter jets and Mi-25 and Mi-35 attack helicopters, along with other military hardware.

• The base and the state of Punjab as a whole has "probably the highest concentration of military personnel in India because it's so close to the border with Pakistan," analyst Rahul Bedi from Jane's Information Group told AP.

• It occupies a highly strategic position on the main highway connecting Kashmir with the rest of the country. It is also very close - about 35km - to the border with Pakistan. 

The attack is being seen as a blow to an apparent Indo-Pakistani peace initiative launched just days ago.
Hopes for a thaw in relations were raised after Mr Modi paid an unexpected visit to his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif.

The United Jihad Council - a coalition of more than a dozen militant groups fighting against Indian rule in Kashmir - claimed its "national highway squad" was behind the attack.
The council, based in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, is headed by Syed Salahuddin who also leads Hizb-ul Mujahiddin, the longest surviving Kashmiri militant group.
It said it wanted to show India that no security establishment was out of reach from militants, and that India should allow all Kashmiris to decide their political future.
Over the weekend some Indian security officials suggested the Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed was to blame. India says the group is backed by Pakistan, but Islamabad denies this.