India urges Pakistan to appeal bail for Mumbai attacks accused
ATC on Thursday granted bail to Zakiur Rahman Lakhvi, the alleged mastermind of the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai
NEW DELHI:
India said Thursday it expects Islamabad to appeal a Pakistani court's decision to grant bail to the alleged mastermind of the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, calling the ruling "unfortunate".
Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi is accused of planning the 60-hour siege on India's economic capital that left 166 people dead and was blamed on the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the decision to grant bail was "very unfortunate".
"India has given enough evidence (against Lakhvi). We expect the Pakistan government to appeal at the earliest," he told journalists in Delhi.
The pace of prosecutions has been a major irritant in already strained relations between the two nuclear-armed rivals.
As well as Lakhvi, Pakistan has had another four Mumbai terror suspects in its custody since the attacks.
New Delhi has long said there is evidence that "official agencies" in Pakistan were involved in plotting the attack.
Islamabad denies the charge, but LeT's alleged charitable arm Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), seen as a front for the militant group, operates openly in the country.
Singh also defended his government's decision to express public solidarity with Pakistan after a deadly attack on a school in Peshawar.
"Our prime minister did whatever was right after the Peshawar attack," Singh told reporters on Thursday.
India said Thursday it expects Islamabad to appeal a Pakistani court's decision to grant bail to the alleged mastermind of the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, calling the ruling "unfortunate".
Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi is accused of planning the 60-hour siege on India's economic capital that left 166 people dead and was blamed on the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the decision to grant bail was "very unfortunate".
"India has given enough evidence (against Lakhvi). We expect the Pakistan government to appeal at the earliest," he told journalists in Delhi.
The pace of prosecutions has been a major irritant in already strained relations between the two nuclear-armed rivals.
As well as Lakhvi, Pakistan has had another four Mumbai terror suspects in its custody since the attacks.
New Delhi has long said there is evidence that "official agencies" in Pakistan were involved in plotting the attack.
Islamabad denies the charge, but LeT's alleged charitable arm Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), seen as a front for the militant group, operates openly in the country.
Singh also defended his government's decision to express public solidarity with Pakistan after a deadly attack on a school in Peshawar.
"Our prime minister did whatever was right after the Peshawar attack," Singh told reporters on Thursday.