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Give your list, we will act, Jaswant tells Pak.
By Our Special Correspondent
The Canadian Deputy Prime Minister, John Manley, with the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, in New Delhi on Monday. Photo: S. Arneja
NEW DELHI, JAN. 21. India today said that it would quickly extradite any Pakistani fugitive in case it was asked, but asserted that Islamabad should not hold up handover of the terrorists named in New Delhi's list of 20.
``If any such (Pakistani) list were to come, I can assure you that the Ministries of Home Affairs and External Affairs will work double time to send them promptly back to Pakistan,'' the External Affairs Minister, Jaswant Singh, said at a joint press conference here with the Canadian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, John Manley.
Mr. Singh's remarks mark the first Indian reaction to the assertion by the Pakistani Foreign Minister, Abdul Sattar, that Islamabad has its own list of fugitives in India on which it wants New Delhi to act.
Mr. Manley, who had met the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, prior to his arrival here said that he had discussed with him India's list. Gen. Musharraf had pointed to the need for evidence from the Indian side to enable him to take action, but had reiterated that no Pakistani national on the list would be returned. ``There was no flat refusal... so , there is a door that is open,'' Mr. Manley said.
The Canadian leader, during the press conference, made two points. First, terrorism had to be condemned unequivocally. Specifically, he said, ``the people who are responsible for the December 13 attack on Indian Parliament should be brought to justice. There is no question of any compromise on this issue.'' Terrorism, Mr. Manley asserted, could not be justified on any ground. Dismissing the characterisation of terrorists as ``freedom fighters'', he stressed that ``no one can make a distinction among terrorists''.
Second, he hoped for a downturn in Indo-Pakistani tensions, possibly on the basis of the recent steps taken by Gen. Musharraf. In an obvious reference to the crackdown by Pakistan on terrorists, the Canadian leader hoped that some of the steps taken would help stabilise the situation that was prevailing between the two neighbours. He hoped that the current tensions would decline. ``Everyday the conflict is not escalated is a step forward. Days and days have gone without further developments. That is a positive development.''
Mr. Manley and Mr. Singh, during a 40-minute meeting ahead of the press meet, also discussed ways to restore the bilateral ties that had been hit by India's nuclear tests in May 1998. The Canadian Deputy Prime Minister also met the Home Minister, L.K. Advani, for half-an-hour and discussed the ways to counter terrorism.
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