Image: 26/11 mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi
Pakistan’s decision to release a brutal terrorist and 26/11 mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi was massively criticized and lambasted by India, on Friday, with India’s envoy to Pakistan meeting the Pakistan foreign secretary to protest against the release of Lakhvi.
Responding to a question on his release, the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Mr Sayed Akbaruddin said, “Our concerns on this issue have been made known to the Government of Pakistan in the past. These shall be reiterated. The fact is that known terrorists not being effectively prosecuted constitutes a real security threat for India and the world. This also erodes the value of assurances repeatedly conveyed to us with regard to cross border terrorism?”
“Our High Commissioner has registered our strong concerns with the Foreign Secretary of Pakistan at the release of a principal accused in the Mumbai terrorist attack of 2008. He underlined that this has reinforced the perception that Pakistan has a dual policy on dealing with terrorists and those who have carried out attacks or are posing a threat to India are being dealt with differently and emphasized that this is a most negative development in so far as bilateral ties are concerned,” he further added.
Articulating concern over the release of the top Lashkar terrorist Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday called this development “unfortunate and disappointing”.
“India wants talks with Pakistan but the present development (release of Lakhvi) is unfortunate and disappointing,” he was quoted by PTI as saying.
On Thursday, an Islamabad court had ordered Lakhvi’s release. Though India had been putting a lot of pressure on Pakistan for awarding strictest punishment to Lakhvi, the terrorist was in reality freed by the Pakistani court. Ironically, Islamabad blamed New Delhi for Lakhvi’s release.
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Tags: india Islamabad Pakistan Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi
