Indian ambassador to Israel, JP Singh, has demanded a handover of terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed by Pakistan in the same way that the United States recently extradited Tahawwur Rana, who is linked to the 26/11 Mumbai attack.
Speaking to Israeli TV channel i24, Singh gave a call to form a coalition against terrorism.
“At an international level all those countries, including India, Israel and many other countries that face the brunt of terrorism, we need to expand our diplomatic reach, we need to cooperate, we need to form a coalition against terrorism and most importantly against the supporters of these terrorist groups,” he said.
Singh said Operation Sindoor, which was a retaliation against the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, initially aimed at terror infrastructure in Pakistan.
“The terrorists killed people based on their religion. They asked people their religion before killing them and 26 innocent lives were lost,” he said.
“India’s operation was against terror groups and their infrastructure, to which Pakistan responded by attacking Indian military installations,” he added.
Rana accused of facilitating 2008 Mumbai terror attacks
Singh cited the United States’ step to extradite Rana, a 64-year-old Pakistan-born Canadian national accused of facilitating the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that left 166 dead, to demand top terrorists from Pakistan.
“They need to do a very simple thing – when the preamble includes goodwill and friendship, they just need to hand over these terrorists to us,” the Indian diplomat said and added, “When the US can hand over these culprits, why can’t Pakistan hand them over? They have to simply hand over Hafiz Saeed, Lakhvi, Sajid Mir, and things will be over.”
When he was asked whether the ceasefire, which US President Donald Trump claimed to have brokered, the diplomat said the military operations are in a halt.
“The fight against terrorism will continue. We have set a new normal and the new normal is that we will follow an offensive strategy. Wherever terrorists are, we have to kill those terrorists and we have to destroy their infrastructure. So it is still not over but as we speak the ceasefire is still intact,” Singh told the news channel.
Operation Sindoor was a fierce military operation launched by the Indian Air Force (IAF) on May 7, in response to the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 tourists who were enjoying their vacation at Baisaran Valley, which is referred to as India’s Switzerland.
The operation aimed to dismantle terrorist bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
After the Pakistan Army again targeted Indian civilians and resorted to cross-border firing, the Indian Armed Forces retaliated, destroying defence systems of the hostile neighbour.
On Pakistan’s appeal, India responded with a ceasefire on May 10 but Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned of fresh retaliation if Islamabad goes astray.
