Pak won't hand over terror suspects to India: Qureshi

Rezaul H Laskar

Islamabad, Jan 4 (PTI) On the eve of a top US diplomat's visit here to push Pakistan to act against the Mumbai attack perpetrators, Islamabad Sunday rejected India's demand to hand over terror suspects linked to the strikes, insisting that there was no extradition treaty between the two countries.

There can be no comparison between Pakistan's extradition
of terror suspects to the US and India's demand for the
handing over of persons linked to the Mumbai attacks, Foreign
Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said.

"We have a treaty with the US, we do not have an
extradition treaty with India. Please do not compare, every
situation is not identical," Qureshi told a news conference in
his hometown of Multan.

Pakistan will frame a response on matters related to the
Mumbai attacks only when it receives "something officially
from India", he said, adding that no information had so far
been shared by New Delhi with Islamabad.

The Foreign Minister's comments came a day after Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh asked Pakistan to hand over terror
suspects linked to the Mumbai attacks.

Qureshi said he will meet US Assistant Secretary of State
Richard Boucher Monday during his visit to Pakistan.

Boucher is travelling to the region to urge India and
Pakistan to push forward the probe into the Mumbai attacks and
for action against the perpetrators of the terrorist strike
that killed over 180 people.

Qureshi said the tensions sparked by the Mumbai attacks
had been defused due to the intervention of "friends and
important nations in the region and beyond."

"Good relations with India will remain our policy. The
Mumbai attacks caused a setback for bilateral relations,"
Qureshi remarked.

"There is a pause in the composite dialogue but we will
endeavour to end this pause and move towards normal relations.
We must emerge from the stress that has developed in our
relations," he said.

After the Mumbai attacks, Pakistan adopted a strategy
with three objectives to reduce tensions with India, Qureshi
said. The first objective was to avoid war as it offers no
solutions and would only complicate matters, he added.

The second objective was to protect Pakistan from
international isolation and the third was to save the country
from internal destabilisation. "I will not say we have
achieved the objectives as yet but we are close to achieving
them," he said.

Internal stability is a basic pre-requisite to counter
the many challenges facing Pakistan, Qureshi said.

He also said there was no link between the Kashmir issue
and the Mumbai attacks. "Pakistan's stand on the Kashmir issue
remains the same. Mumbai is an issue that is related to
terrorism," he said.

Pakistan wants a solution that will ensure attacks do not
occur in India or any other country. "We have to get to the
bottom of the matter so that such incidents are not repeated
in future. The region is facing the threat of terrorism. There
should be a regional approach for a solution," he said.

"We want good relations with all our neighbours – be it
India, China or Iran. Good relations with India are in
Pakistan's interests. It will ensure stability in Pakistan."
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