(a) whether any list of the wanted terrorists who have taken refuge in Pakistan has been submitted to the Government of Pakistan;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) the reaction of the Government of Pakistan thereto;
(d) whether Pakistan has also handed over to India a list of wanted men; and
(e) if so, the details thereof including the stand of the Government thereon?
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR EXTERNAL AFFAIRS (SHRI OMAR ABDULLAH)
(a)-(c) On 31st December 2001, Government handed over a consolidated list of 20 fugitives from law currently residing in Pakistan, and asked Pakistan to apprehend and hand over these individuals to India, so that they can be brought to justice for their crimes. Amongst the criminals figuring on the list are those who are wanted for for heinous crimes such as the Mumbai bomb blasts in 1993, the hijacking of IC 814 to Kandahar and the attack on India`s Parliament on December 13.
Pakistan has not responded positively to this request. The President of Pakistan, in his address to the Pakistan nation on January 12 stated that there was no question of the Pakistan authorities handing over any Pakistan national to India. As regards the presence of non-Pakistan nationals the President denied that Pakistan had given asylum to any such person.
(d)&(e) In their public statements, Pakistani leaders have claimed that they would shortly be handing over to India their own list of wanted criminals. So far, however, no such list has been handed over. Pakistani leaders frequently resort to propagandist ploys of this nature to divert attention from Pakistan`s continued sponsorship of cross border terrorism.