Pakistan on Thursday said it was “preposterous” to link the ISI to the Mumbai attacks, a day after a U.S. court issued summons to the powerful spy agency’s chief and others in connection with the 2008 carnage.
Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said Pakistan was committed to bringing the perpetrators of the carnage to justice as India prepares to observe the second anniversary of the carnage unleashed by 10 LeT terrorists on the country’s financial capital on Friday.
“The trial of the seven accused in the Mumbai attacks is underway in Pakistan. We are committed to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks to justice. So dragging the ISI into this in any manner is preposterous,” he said.
Mr. Basit was responding to a question at the weekly news briefing on the summons issued by a U.S. court to senior ISI officials, including its chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha, and Mumbai attacks masterminds Hafiz Saeed and Zakiur Rahman Lakhvi.
The summons were issued by a U.S. judge in response to a lawsuit filed by relatives of two American nationals who were killed in the attacks.
Mr. Basit said Pakistani authorities had learnt about the summons issued to officials of intelligence agencies and other persons through the media.
The trial of seven Pakistani suspects, including Lashker-e-Taiba operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, by an anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi has been marred by repeated delays and controversies since it began early last year.
The judge has been changed thrice and only one out of over 160 witnesses has testified so far in the court.
The court is also yet to decide on a petition filed by the government to allow a commission to visit India to interview key witnesses, including Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving Mumbai attacker.
