India on Thursday said the “efficacy” of Pakistan’s decision on Wednesday to send Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed to jail remains to be seen as it came just days ahead of a global watchdog’s review on Islamabad's action against terror networks operating from the country.
The reaction from officials sources here came a day after a Pakistani court on Wednesday sentenced Saeed, the mastermind of 2008 Mumbai terror attack, to 11 years' prison in two cases relating to terror financing.
The sentencing of Saeed came just four days ahead of a meeting of global anti-terror watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in Paris to review Pakistan's compliance of an action plan prescribed by it to contain terror groups in the country.
Last year, the FATF asked Pakistan to fully implement its anti-terror action plan by February 2020 or face severe action. Pakistan was already kept under the "grey list" of countries by the FATF for failing to contain terror financing.
Indian Government sources said it is part of a long-pending international obligation of Pakistan to put an end to support for terrorism and that efficacy of Saeed's sentencing remained to be seen.
"The decision has been made on the eve of FATF Plenary meeting, which has to be noted. Hence, the efficacy of this decision remains to be seen," an official source said elaborating on the Government's assessment of the action.
The sources said it is also to be seen whether Pakistan will take action against all other terrorist entities and individuals operating from territories under its control.
India has been pressing Pakistan to take action against all those involved in cross-border terror attacks including the Mumbai and Pathankot attacks.
It has to be seen whether Pakistan brings perpetrators of cross border terrorist attacks, including in Mumbai and Pathankot to justice expeditiously, the sources said.
Hafiz Saeed has been declared a global terrorist both by the United Nations and the US, which put a $10 million bounty on his head. He also heads the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a front organisation for the terror group'
The US has hailed the sentence against him. The conviction "is an important step forward -- both toward holding LeT accountable for its crimes, and for Pakistan in meeting its international commitments to combat terrorist financing," tweeted Alice Wells, the top US diplomat for South Asia.
Hafiz Saeed has spent years in and out of varying forms of detention in Pakistan, sometimes under house arrest, on various charges. For the most part he has been free to move at will around the country, enraging India which has repeatedly called for his prosecution.
His most recent arrest came in July last year. At the time, US President Donald Trump tweeted that he had been detained "after a 10-year search". The US House Foreign Affairs Committee also noted then that Hafiz Saeed had been arrested and released eight times since 2001.