NEW DELHI: After a temporary mellowing of mood due to aid diplomacy over Kashmir floods, tempers have started rising again in India-Pakistan relations.
“Our views on Hafiz Saeed are very clear. To us, he is the evil mastermind of the attacks on Mumbai and one of the accused in an Indian court for killings on the streets of Mumbai,” said MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin.
He noted that India has repeatedly asked Pakistan to apprehend Saeed so that he can be taken through normal judicial process.
“Alas! He has never been arrested on account of 26/11 ever,” said Akbaruddin. Therefore, what the Pakistan HC said was true -- “that he is only free because he is a Pakistani citizen”.
The MEA said that Pakistan cannot complain that it has not received enough evidence as an excuse for not prosecuting Saeed. “99 per cent evidence in this case is in Pakistan. The entire conspiracy was hatched in Pakistan. The planning for this dastardly act was done in Pakistan. The financing for this act was undertaken in Pakistan and people involved who were involved in this were from Pakistan,” he said.
It was upto to Pakistan to “ensure that criminals like Hafiz were brought to book and justice was delivered.”
The strong Indian reaction was in response to Basit’s assertion that there was nothing wrong with Saeed remaining out of jail. “Hafiz Saeed is a Pakistani national so he is free to roam around. So what is the problem...he is a free citizen so there is no issue as far as Pakistan is concerned. Courts have already exonerated him. There is no case pending against him,” said Basit.
The euphoria over Modi’s invitation to Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif wore off within a few months, after India cancelled foreign secretary-level talks over the high commissioner’s consultations with Hurriyat leaders.
But, it seemed that the bad blood may have eased somewhat with both the Prime Ministers making offers to each other to help in rescue and relief effort in the devastating Kashmir floods. Of course, neither of them took up each other’s offer.
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