Bilawal Bhutto Says Ready To Extradite Hafiz Saeed To India; Terrorist’s Son Fumes
Former Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has created a stir by asserting that his country would not object to extraditing wanted terrorists like Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar to India, provided New Delhi engages in a “comprehensive dialogue” and cooperates with its legal system. The remark, however, drew immediate and angry condemnation from the son of 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed.
In an interview with Qatar-based Al Jazeera on Friday, Bilawal Bhutto, who now heads the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), suggested that extraditing “individuals of concern” could be a significant confidence-building measure between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
“As part of a comprehensive dialogue with Pakistan, where terrorism is one of the issues that we discuss, I am sure Pakistan would not be opposed to any of these things,” Bilawal said when asked specifically about handing over LeT chief Hafiz Saeed and JeM founder Masood Azhar.
However, he attached a major rider, claiming that for Pakistan to prosecute these individuals for cross-border terrorism, India would need to cooperate. “It’s important… for people to come over from India to testify, to put up with whatever the counter-accusations will be. If India is willing to be cooperative in that process, I am sure there will be no hurdle in extraditing any individual of concern,” he claimed.
The statement drew a furious response from Hafiz Saeed’s son, Talha Saeed, who is also a UN-designated global terrorist. He slammed Bilawal, claiming his comments had “brought disgrace to Pakistan globally” and that his family would vehemently oppose any move to extradite his father to India.
During the interview, Bilawal also claimed that Hafiz Saeed is “in the custody of the Pakistani state” and that Islamabad believes Masood Azhar, the mastermind of the 2019 Pulwama attack, is in Afghanistan. “If and when the Indian government shares information that he is on Pakistani soil, we will be more than happy to arrest him,” Bilawal asserted.
India has consistently maintained that it will not engage in dialogue with Pakistan until it takes credible, verifiable, and irreversible action against terrorist networks operating from its soil.
