Washington: Pakistan wants “something done about the bombers of Mumbai”, its Prime Minister Imran Khan has said while tacitly acknowledging that the attack of November 2008 originated from the Pakistani soil.
Khan, who has spoken about Pakistan taking two steps for peace for every step taken by India, said his government wants to prosecute those involved in the “act of terror” as it is in “Islamabad’s interest to resolve the matter.
The Pakistan Prime Minister said he has asked for the status of the case which is being heard in an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan.
On November 26, 2008, 10 heavily-armed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists sailed into Mumbai and attacked multiple places in the city, including the iconic Taj Hotel.
In the coordinated attacks which shook the entire world, 166 people were killed and 300 injured.
“We also want something done about the bombers of Mumbai. I have asked our government to find out the status of the case. Resolving that case is in our interest because it was an act of terrorism,” Khan said in an interview to the Washington Post, his first to a foreign publication.
He stated this when asked about the prosecution of the perpetrators of the audacious attacks and the release of LeT’s operations commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi.
The trial, underway in an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan against seven activists, has made little headway in the last 10 years as the Pakistani establishment has been claiming lack of enough evidence against them.
India, which has provided a number of dossiers of evidence, has been maintaining that the bilateral relations cannot improve until Pakistan punishes all those involved in the crime.
India has particularly been pushing for action against LeT chief Hafiz Saeed, who has been roaming freely in Pakistan despite being declared as an international terrorist.
The Narendra Modi government has emphasised that terror and talks cannot go together.
In his interview, Khan expressed hope that talks with India would resume after the Lok Sabha elections due by May next year.
“Let’s hope that after the election is over, we can again resume talks with India,” the Pakistani prime minister said. (ANI)
