Stand on Dawood’s whereabouts vindicated: Pak

Pakistan on Thursday said the Indian government’s written reply in Parliament on the whereabouts of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim has vindicated its sustained stand that the fugitive was not in its territory.

“We have been saying that whereabouts of Dawood Ibrahim were not known to Pakistan. And, finally, it has been admitted by the side which has been accusing Pakistan on this issue,” Pakistan Foreign Office’s newly-appointed spokesperson Qazi Khalillulah said during a media briefing here.

The Indian government was left embarrassed on Tuesday when Union Minister of State for Home Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary said in a written reply that the location of Dawood, India’s most wanted terrorist, was not known to the government and once he is located his extradition process will be initiated. Asked about recent concerns expressed by Pakistan military about the Indian intelligence agency RAW’s alleged “whipping up terrorism” in Pakistan, Khalillulah said, “We have been taking up the issue of Indian involvement in various parts of Pakistan from time to time, particularly when we have talks with them.” 

“I would like to recall that after the visit of Indian Foreign Secretary to Pakistan in March, the Foreign Secretary had briefed the media about the Indian involvement in FATA and Balochistan,” he said. During the briefing, Khalillulah was also asked about India turning to the UN against the release of Mumbai attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi.