Hours after the United States asked Pakistan to prosecute the terror fountainhead Hafiz Saeed "to the fullest extent of the law," India too criticised Islamabad for turning a blind eye towards the evidence available against the Mumbai attack mastermind.
The statements of the US and that of the Ministry of External Affairs came following a remark by Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi saying that no action could be taken against the United Nations-designated terrorist since there was no evidence against him in his country.
Pakistan has also refused to prosecute Saeed over the evidence given by India in his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. Saeed was released from house arrest following an order from a Pakistani court that cited lack of evidence against him in the 26/11 Mumbai attack case.
India has been constantly pressurising Pakistan to take action against Saeed instead of sheltering him. "If somebody is a designated global terrorist, it is done based on a lot of evidence available in public domain. You can close your eyes, pretend nothing happened but they (Pakistan) have to realise what's in front of them and take action against such people, who are freely operating from their soil," MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said on Friday.
Abbasi, in an interview to Geo TV, said there was no case registered against Saeed in Islamabad and without it, action cannot be initiated against him. Similarly, Pakistan has also been maintaining that it cannot take action against another lashkar operative Zakiur-Rehman-lakhvi who played an important role in the 26/11 Mumbai attack. lakhvi is roaming freely in Pakistan after being released on bail.
However, dismissing Abbasi's remarks on being Mumbai attack mastermind, the US made it clear that he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Speaking at the Press briefing in Washington, US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said on Thursday, "So we've certainly seen the reports about this, that the Pakistani Government has said that no case has been registered against this individual, Hafiz Saeed.
“Many of you may recall we talked about this a couple of weeks ago, about who this individual is. We regard him as a terrorist, a part of a foreign terrorist organisation. He was the mastermind, we believe, of the 2008 Mumbai attacks which killed many people, including Americans as well."