Bilawal Bhutto’s statement on extraditing terrorists to India

The former Foreign Minister of Pakistan Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has stated that Pakistan was ready to hand over what they called individuals of concern to India as a confidence-building measure but only if New Delhi went along with the proposal in good faith.

Mr. Bilawal, the chairman of the Pakistan People Party, was giving the comments in an interview with Al Jazeera on Friday (July 4, 2025) in response to the question regarding extradition of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed and Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as the possible concessions and good-faith gestures, Dawn newspaper reported.

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“As part of a comprehensive dialogue with Pakistan, where terrorism is one of the issues that we discuss, I am sure Pakistan would not be opposed to any of these things,” Mr. Bilawal said.

According to the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta), both LeT and JeM have been banned by Pakistan, Saeed, the mastermind of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, is in a 33-year sentence in terror financing and Azhar, a UN-designated global terrorist, is banned by Nacta.

According to Mr. Bilawal, the prosecutions that were being conducted against these so-called individuals included cases regarding Pakistan, i.e. terrorist financing. But he added they could not be prosecuted easily on cross-border terrorism on the ground of what he termed as lack of cooperation in Delhi.

“India is refusing to comply with certain basic elements that require that conviction to take place,” he said. “It’s important … to present evidence within these courts, for people to come over from India to testify, to put up with whatever the counter-accusations will be."

“If India is willing to be cooperative in that process, I am sure there will be no hurdle in extraditing any individual of concern,” he added.

Another issue that Mr. Bilawal was worried about was the declaration of India to go after terrorists, described as a new abnormal.

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“This does not serve the interests of Pakistan, and it does not serve the interests of India," he added.

Insisted on the whereabouts of Saeed and Azhar, Mr Bilawal responded that former is in jail, whereas Islamabad suspects the latter is in Afghanistan.

“It is factually not correct that Hafiz Saeed is a free man; he is in the custody of the Pakistani state,” he maintained, stating that Islamabad has been unable to arrest Azhar.

“It is our belief that he is in Afghanistan,” Mr. Bilawal stated. “If and when the Indian government shares information that he is on Pakistani soil, we will be more than happy to arrest him."

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