Search the Internet          Tips

India ready to act on Pakistan's list: Jaswant

New Delhi on Monday said it would work "double time" to extradite any Pakistani fugitives in India if it received a list. However, the government asked Islamabad to stop quibbling over the handing over of Indian terrorists and criminals named in the list of 20.

In the first official reaction to Pakistan Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar's remarks that Islamabad would hand over to New Delhi its own list of fugitives sheltered in India, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh said: "If any such list were to come, I can assure you that the ministries of home affairs and external affairs will work double time to send them promptly back to Pakistan."

He was responding to questions along with visiting Canadian Deputy Prime Minister John Manley after the two leaders had wide-ranging discussions on bilateral issues, the regional situation and international issues of mutual concern.

Singh said: "I don't see why one should indulge in legal quibbling over criminals. If Pakistan thinks there are any Pakistani criminals in India, without citing any treaties or any procedures, I will immediately return them," he said.

Asked whether Pakistan has sent such a list to India, he said: "It hasn't happened. I have not heard of it through the official channel of the Pakistan foreign office."

Observing that those named in the Indian list had committed heinous crimes, he said: "I don't see what advantage accrues to Pakistan... by permitting them to stay."

Singh recalled that when he was the defence minister, a Pakistani army regular had crossed over after committing a crime in his country.

He said Pakistan had made a request for the return of the soldier, saying he had committed a crime against a superior officer.

"I knew that if I send him back, it is like a death warrant for that soldier. But I did not wait for any extradition treaty or procedures. He is a criminal and a criminal is to be returned. He was returned instantly," Singh said.

The minister said India had welcomed some of the steps announced by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in his speech on January 12.

"But we will like to see these steps translated on the ground, particularly on the question of curbing cross-border terrorism and abandoning state-sponsored terrorism," he said.

PTI

Tell us what you think of this report