Awaiting Pak response on handover of fugitives: Pranab

New Delhi, Dec 2 (PTI) India Tuesday said it was awaiting
Pakistan's response to a demarche issued in the wake of the Mumbai terror strikes, asking Islamabad to handover Indian fugitives who have taken shelter in the neighbouring country.

"We will await the response from Pakistan" to the
demarche (protest note), India's External Affairs Minister
Pranab Mukherjee told reporters here.

Mukherjee has stated that "some elements" based in
Pakistan were suspected to be behind the Mumbai attacks.

Pakistan's High Commissioner to India Shahid Malik was
summoned by top officials in the Ministry of External Affairs
and handed down the demarche seeking strong action against
those responsible for the Mumbai carnage.

"Now, we have in our demarche asked for the arrests and
handing over of those persons who are settled in Pakistan and
who are fugitives under the Indian law," Mukherjee said on the
sidelines of a function to inaugurate the India-Arab Forum.

India had already handed over to Pakistan a list of 20
terrorists, including Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Mohammad and
Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar besides underworld don
Dawood Ibrahim, who are based in that country and are
suspected to be behind terror attacks in India.

"...there are lists (containing the names) of about 20
persons. (These) lists are sometimes altered and this exercise
is going on and we have reviewed it in our demarche,"
Mukherjee said.

"What will be done, time will show and you will come to
know," he said in response to a query on US President-elect
Barack Obama's remarks that his country will help India in
"protecting" itself from such terror attacks.

"We appreciate the responses (from major global powers)
which we have received from all over the world, including
Obama," Mukherjee said. PTI