Islamabad, January 7
Indian Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani is to be invited to Pakistan for talks on an extradition pact, a media report on Wednesday said.The USA and Britain had told Pakistan that this is the only way Islamabad can fulfil India’s demand for handing over the 20 criminals New Delhi says have taken shelter in this country. The News reported in a report from Brussels.
“In telephonic conversations, sources in Islamabad, New Delhi and Europe indicated that Pakistan had agreed in principle to invite Advani to Pakistan for talks on modalities of an extradition treaty and other related issues.
“Agreeing to evolve a legal framework to cooperate, according to the sources, Pakistani security officials have told India that modalities of the extradition treaty should be discussed parallel to other issues,” the newspaper said.
“The USA, Britain and other world powers have endorsed the view that Indian demand of handing over 20 wanted men allegedly in Pakistan cannot be fulfilled as there was no extradition treaty between the two countries,” it added.
The list was handed over to Pakistan after the December 13, 2002, attack on the Indian Parliament.
It includes the alleged hijackers of Indian Airlines’ flight IC-814 in 1999, half a dozen of those blamed for the 1993 Mumbai blasts, including Dawood Ibrahim, Chhota Shakeel and Tiger Memon, Lashker-e-Taiba leader Hafiz Mohammad Sayed, Jaish-e-Mohammad leader Maulana Masood Azhar and Hizbul Mujahideen supremo Syed Salahuddin.
— IANS
