Islamabad: Former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has drawn sharp criticism from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and other quarters after suggesting that Islamabad could consider extraditing “individuals of concern” to India as a confidence-building measure.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairman said, “As part of a comprehensive dialogue with Pakistan, where terrorism is one of the issues that we discuss, I am sure Pakistan would not be opposed to any of these things.” He was responding to a question on the possible extradition of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar.
Both LeT and JeM are banned in Pakistan, according to the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA). Saeed, the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, is currently serving a 33-year sentence for terror financing. Azhar, a UN-designated global terrorist, has been proscribed by NACTA and is believed to be living in an undisclosed location.
Reacting to Bilawal’s remarks, PTI spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram described him as an “immature political child” and said the proposal was “ill-advised” and damaging to Pakistan’s national security narrative. “We fail to understand why Bilawal is so keen on appeasing India,” Akram said, adding that such statements humiliate the country on international platforms, the Dawn newspaper reported on Sunday.
He further accused Bilawal of lacking political wisdom and regional awareness. “Bilawal has become a symbol of confusion and contradiction in Pakistan’s foreign policy discourse. The PPP was founded by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on the legacy of Kashmir, but today, Bilawal is betraying that legacy for political gain,” he said.
In the interview, Bilawal said that the cases against Saeed and Azhar in Pakistan relate to terror financing and that prosecuting them for cross-border terrorism is difficult due to what he called “noncompliance” from India. “India is refusing to comply with certain basic elements that require that conviction to take place,” he said, citing the need for Indian witnesses to testify in Pakistani courts.
“If India is willing to be cooperative in that process, I am sure there will be no hurdle in extraditing any individual of concern,” he added. He also stated that Saeed is incarcerated, while Azhar is believed to be in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Hafiz Saeed’s son, Hafiz Talha Saeed, also condemned Bilawal’s remarks. “His statement is against state policy, national interest, and sovereignty, and we strongly condemn it,” he said in Lahore. “Bilawal Bhutto is either unaware of ground realities or promoting the enemy’s narrative,” he added, questioning whether a state representative should speak of handing over citizens to an “enemy country”.
Talha defended his father, claiming none of Saeed’s actions were against Pakistan. Saeed has been in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail since 2019 following multiple convictions in terror financing cases. His LeT is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that killed 166 people.
(inputs from PTI)