The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday said that the mastermind of the November 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai was enjoying Pakistan’s “hospitality” and the country was not serious about taking action against the perpetrators, PTI reported.
“We all know who were the perpetrators in the attack and we all know who the mastermind is,” ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told reporters at a weekly press briefing. “We are aware that the mastermind is roaming freely and enjoying Pakistan’s hospitality.”
Kumar said India had shared all the evidence in the case with Pakistan. “It is Pakistan’s responsibility to take action,” he said. “They have shied away in the past citing different excuses which are not working. In the global community, there is a feeling that Pakistan is not serious in taking action against those involved in the Mumbai attacks.”
Kumar also said India has asked Pakistan for “immediate, effective and unhindered” consular access to former Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav. “We are in touch with the Pakistani side through diplomatic channels,” he said. “Would not like to disclose what is the nature of discussion on this matter at a public forum...But, yes, there is some communication that is going on between India and Pakistan on this issue.”
Jadhav was sentenced to death in 2016 in Pakistan on espionage charges. His execution was stayed after India moved the international court against the verdict in May 2017. India had contended in the court in The Hague that the lack of consular access was a violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.
In July, the International Court of Justice concluded that Pakistan had violated the Vienna Convention in its treatment of Jadhav and ordered Islamabad not to execute him for now and grant him consular access. Article 36 of the convention mandates that consular officers had the right to visit a national of their country detained or taken into custody on foreign shores “to converse and correspond with him and to arrange for his legal representation”.
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