Foreign secretary S. Jaishankar wrote to his Pakistani counterpart, suggesting ways to expedite Pakistan’s 2008 Mumbai terror attacks trial. He is yet to get a response.
Foreign secretary S. Jaishankar wrote to his Pakistani counterpart, suggesting ways to expedite Pakistan’s 2008 Mumbai terror attacks trial. He is yet to get a response.
The move comes even as the ministry of external affairs (MEA) made it clear in New Delhi that India would continue to raise the Balochistan issue at various global forums as long as human rights violations continue in the restive Pakistani province.
India had raised the human rights violations committed by Pakistani forces in Balochistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) while lashing out at Pakistan at the 33rd session of UN Human Rights Council at Geneva on Wednesday.
Mr Jaishankar wrote the letter on September 6, which was hand-delivered by the Indian high commissioner in Islamabad on September 9, MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.
The MEA said that if Pakistan was serious about bringing the perpetrators of the attack to justice, then it should act on the suggestions as the attacks was planned from Pakistan, and was carried out by Pakistani nationals.
Mr Swarup said, “In order to bring the guilty to book, our foreign secretary has recently written to his counterpart in Pakistan suggesting ways in which the trial could be expedited through cooperation through the legal channel.”
He said the step was prompted by the delay in bringing to book the persons in Pakistan responsible for the Mumbai terror attack.
“As you know, the entire attack was planned from Pakistan, was perpetrated by Pakistani nationals, all the evidence is in Pakistan, but eight years have passed and the trial is happening at a snail’s pace,” he said.
Mr Swarup said the country’s focus is to check terrorism and that the government wanted to bring the trial to an expeditious conclusion. “We are prepared to offer suggestions on how it can be done through the proper legal channels,” he said.
