Pakistan Admits Receiving Hafiz Saeed Extradition Request, but Says No Such Pact with India

Pakistan confirmed on Friday that India sought the extradition of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed who is the mastermind behind the 2008 Mumbai attack as well as a UN-proscribed terrorist. Hafiz Saeed is wanted by Indian agencies due to his involvement in several terror cases.

The external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Friday said the request for extraditing Pakistan-based Saeed, along with certain documents, was sent to Islamabad recently, according to a report by news agency PTI.

“We have conveyed a request along with relevant supporting documents to the government of Pakistan,” Bagchi was quoted as saying by the news agency.

Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, spokesperson for the Pakistani ministry of foreign affairs, confirmed that Islamabad received the request but pointed out that no extradition treaty exists between the two countries.

“Pakistan has received a request from the Indian authorities, seeking extradition of Hafiz Saeed in a so-called money laundering case. It is pertinent to note that no bilateral extradition treaty exists between Pakistan and India,” Baloch said.

News agency PTI said even though New Delhi does not have an extradition pact with Islamabad, extradition in this matter is possible even in the absence of such a framework pact, citing people familiar with the developments.

Saeed, a hardline cleric, was arrested in July 2019 by the Pakistani Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) following 23 first information reports registered against him and his close associates.

He was given a combined sentence of 33 years imprisonment in April 2022 by an anti-terrorism court in two cases of terror financing.

Saeed-led JuD is the front organisation for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people, including six Americans.

Pakistan Army and the security establishment is accused of giving protection to Saeed and the political establishment of Pakistan has always ignored Saeed’s terror connections with other terrorist outfits. Saeed’s son Talha Saeed is also contesting the upcoming general elections from Lahore.