Jerusalem: Pakistan should hand over key terrorists Hafiz Saeed, Sajid Mir, and Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi to India, just like the US did with one of the masterminds of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, Tahawwur Hussain Rana, India’s Ambassador to Israel JP Singh has said.
“When the US can hand over these culprits, why can’t Pakistan hand over? They have to simply hand over Hafeez Saeed, Lakhvi, Sajid Mir, and things will be over”, he emphasised.
Contending that terrorism is a global menace, Singh also called for the formation of an international coalition against it.
In an interview with Israeli TV channel i24 Monday, Singh stressed that India’s Operation Sindoor against Pakistan is “paused” and “not over”.
Narrating the incidents leading up to India’s offensive, Sing said that the operation was against terror groups in Pakistan.
“The terrorists killed people based on their religion. They asked people about their religion before killing them, and 26 innocent lives were lost,” the Indian ambassador said on the Pahalgam attack of April 22.
“India’s operation was against terror groups and their infrastructure to which Pakistan responded by attacking India’s military installations”, he emphasised.
Citing a long list of terror attacks in India that originated from Pakistan, Singh said that the “root cause is these two groups — Jaish-e-Muhammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba”.
The leaders of Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was behind the Mumbai attack, in which several Jews were also killed, continue to roam free, he noted.
“They need to do a very simple thing – when the preamble includes goodwill and friendship, they just need to hand over these terrorists to us,” the envoy stressed.
Pointing out that the United States recently extradited Rana, who was involved in the Mumbai attack, the diplomat, who has also served in Pakistan in the past, said that Islamabad could also do the same.
Asked if the understanding reached between the two nations is the ‘end of the matter’ for India, Singh responded by saying that “the ceasefire is still holding on, but we have made it very clear that Operation Sindoor is paused, it’s not yet over”.
India carried out precision strikes under ‘Operation Sindoor’ on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir early May 7 in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people.
Following the Indian action, Pakistan attempted to attack Indian military bases May 8, 9 and 10. The Indian forces launched a fierce counter-attack on several Pakistani military installations.
India and Pakistan reached an understanding May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.
“The fight against terrorism will continue. We have set a new normal, and the new normal is that we will follow an offensive strategy. Wherever terrorists are, we have to kill those terrorists and destroy their infrastructure. So it is still not over, but as we speak, the ceasefire is still intact,” Singh asserted.
Describing India’s attack on Pakistan’s Nur Khan base May 10 as a game changer, Singh said that it created panic in Pakistan and their Director General of Military Operation (DGMO) reached out to their Indian counterpart seeking a ceasefire.
On the question of suspension of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) that Pakistan has described as “an act of war”, the Indian envoy said that the two key words that guided the treaty were never honoured, and India on the contrary, was always battling against terror attacks emanating from Pakistan.
“IWT was signed in 1960, and the preamble of the treaty includes two key words – goodwill and friendship….Over the past so many years, what we have seen (is that) we were allowing water to flow, and what was Pakistan doing – they were allowing terror (attacks) to come on the Indian side,” Singh noted.
“There was a lot of frustration among people that this could not go on like this. Our Prime Minister said that blood and water cannot flow together and that is the reason that we decided to put this IWT in abeyance,” he added.
“Terror must stop”, the Indian ambassador said.
He asserted that for a treaty like this to be operational, Pakistan must stop cross-border terrorism.
“While IWT is in abeyance, another IWT is operational – Operation Sindoor is India’s War Against Terrorism,” he said.
On Pakistan’s offer to investigate the Pahalgam attack, Singh dismissed it, describing it as a deflection strategy.
“What has happened to the Mumbai attack? What has happened to the Pathankot air base attack? What has happened to the Pulwama attack?” he questioned.
“We have given them dossiers after dossiers — we have given them technical inputs. America has shared with them evidence. Everything is there, but what have they done?” he asked.
“Lakhvi, who was the main planner of the Mumbai attack, is still roaming freely. Hafiz Saeed, the head of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the planner and executioner of the Mumbai attack, is roaming freely. So we can’t believe them,” Singh said.
Contending that terrorism is a global menace, the Indian envoy called for greater cooperation among the countries faced with the challenge.
“At an international level, all those countries, including India, Israel and many other countries that face the brunt of terrorism, we need to expand our diplomatic reach, we need to cooperate, we need to form a coalition against terrorism and most importantly against the supporters of these terrorist groups” he proposed.
He concluded by saying that “our prime minister has made it very clear, very clear, that we have zero tolerance on terrorism. We are not going to accept this cross-border terrorism”.
PTI
