Raising concerns over the release of Jammat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, Israeli envoy to India Daniel Carmon on Tuesday said that punishing perpetrators of terrorism is the first step to fighting terrorism. Saeed is one of the accused in 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in 2008 where six Israelis were also killed by Pakistan-backed lashkar-e-Taiyyaba terrorists.
Saeed was the founder of leT and along with his deputy Zakir-ur-Rehman lakhvi, the two masterminded Mumbai terror attacks. India has submitted several evidences of both Saeed and lakhvi’s involvement in the attack. Saeed has praised the terror attack on the Pathankot air base in 2016 January and called for more such attack on Indian security installations. Despite having a US$10 million reward on his head by the US, the terrorist roams freely in Pakistan. He was recently released from detention after Pak authorities claimed there was no evidence of any wrong doing by him.
“Bringing perpetrators of terrorism to justice is the very basic ingredient in fighting terrorism. Most of the world is suffering from terrorism and joint efforts are needed to fight it,” Carmon said.
Combating terrorism has been one of the important areas of India-Israel security cooperation. The two countries are expected to discuss the matter once again during the Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu’s forthcoming visit to India. The dates for the visit are yet to be announced.
“We have just celebrated 25 years of diplomatic relationship and now we are looking at next 25 and 50 years of partnership. India and Israel are doing a lot of things together,” the ambassador said while talking about cooperation in the agriculture sector.