Pakistan has said India should accord “similar respect” to verdicts by its courts as shown by it in the Ajmal Kasab case, a day after New Delhi expressed disappointment over the Supreme Court here dismissing pleas against JuD chief Hafiz Saeed’s release from house arrest.
“We had also honoured the Indian court’s decision against Ajmal Kasab,” Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters on Wednesday evening, referring to the death sentence awarded to the Pakistani terrorist by a Mumbai court in the 26/11 case.
The Indian authorities should show the similar respect for verdicts of Pakistani courts as that shown by the Pakistan government, he said.
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Mr. Malik made the remarks a day after the apex court upheld the Lahore High Court’s decision to free Saeed from house arrest and dismissed appeals filed by the federal and Punjab governments challenging his release.
India had expressed disappointment over Pakistan Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the release of Saeed, whom New Delhi has blamed for masterminding the Mumbai attacks.
“There is a sense of disappointment. I am sure everybody in this country (India) will share same sense of disappointment on this development especially when we regard Hafiz Saeed as one of the masterminds of the Mumbai terror attacks and he has openly urged jihad against India,” Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao had said in New Delhi on Tuesday.
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Indian officials have said they have provided sufficient evidence against Saeed to Pakistani authorities.
Mr. Malik also called for a joint struggle against terrorism by Pakistan, India and Afghanistan.