Lakhvi’s release most negative development in ties: Govt

The release of one of the key accused in Mumbai terror attacks Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi in Pakistan is a "most negative development" in bilateral ties, government said on Thursday.

India's sense of outrage at the release of Lakhvi was conveyed to Pakistan and it was told that this goes against Pakistan's professed commitment to combat terrorism, including its recently stated policy of not differentiating amongst terrorists, Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.

"It was underlined that this has reinforced the perception that Pakistan has a dual policy on dealing with terrorists, making a distinction between those who have carried out attacks on India or are posing a threat to India are being dealt differently. "It was emphasised that this is a most negative development in so far as bilateral ties are concerned," the minister said. The release of Lakhvi had also raised concerns in the US, the UK, Russia, France and Germany with Washington calling for him to be rearrested.