US President Donald Trump has announced that his administration has approved extradition of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Hussain Rana to India and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the state government is prepared to lodge him in jail.
Addressing a joint press meet along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington on Thursday, Trump said, “Today I am pleased to announce that my administration has approved the extradition of one of the plotters and very evil people of the world, and having to do with the horrific Mumbai terrorist attack, to face justice in India. So, he is going back to India to face justice.”
“We’re giving him back to India immediately” and more such extraditions could follow as we have quite a few requests (from New Delhi), the US president added. The extradition of Rana was cleared by the US Supreme Court in January as it rejected his review petition in the case.
On his part, Modi thanked Trump for the decision. “I am thankful to the President that he has decided to hand over the culprit who committed the killings in India in 2008, to India now. Indian courts will now take appropriate action,” he said.
Thanking Prime Minister Modi for his efforts to bring Rana for trial, Fadnavis said here “We kept Kasab, what is the big deal here? We will keep him for sure,” when asked about Maharashtra’s preparedness once Rana is extradited.
Fadnavis said during the investigation, Pakistan’s role in the terror attack was exposed and established.
He also said “I want to profusely thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his (Rana) extradition. We all wanted that the person who conspired against us, the mastermind of the Mumbai terror attack to be handed over to India,” he said.
The chief minister said initially America was reluctant to hand over Rana to India and wanted to protect him but due to the initiative of the Prime Minister, extradition of Tawwahur Rana has been in a way cleared by America and its President Donald Trump.
“I believe this is very significant for India. Because it is very important that the criminals should get punishment through our judicial and legal process,” he said.
Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, is currently lodged at a metropolitan detention centre in Los Angeles. He is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the key conspirators of the 26/11 attacks.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Modi and President Trump called on Pakistan to “expeditiously” bring to justice the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
The US president hosted Modi at the White House on Thursday in their first bilateral meeting after Trump became the US president for a second term.
Modi said India and the US have stood “firmly together” in the fight against terrorism and both sides agreed that concerted action is necessary to “eradicate” cross-border terrorism.
A joint statement said the two leaders committed to strengthening cooperation against terrorist threats from groups, including Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Jaish-e Mohammad, and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba to prevent heinous acts like the Mumbai attacks.
It said the leaders reaffirmed that the “global scourge” of terrorism must be fought and terrorist safe havens eliminated from every corner of the world.
“They committed to strengthen cooperation against terrorist threats from groups, including Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Jaish-e Mohammad, and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba in order to prevent heinous acts like the attacks in Mumbai on 26/11 and the Abbey Gate bombing in Afghanistan on August 26, 2021,” it said.
Recognising a shared desire to bring to justice those who would harm our citizens, the US announced that the extradition to India of Rana has been approved, according to the statement.
“The leaders further called on Pakistan to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai, and Pathankot attacks and ensure that its territory is not used to carry out cross-border terrorist attacks,” it said.
On November 26, 2008, a group of 10 Pakistani terrorists went into a rampage, carrying out a coordinated attack on a railway station, two luxury hotels and a Jewish centre, after they sneaked into India’s financial capital using the sea route in the Arabian Sea.
As many as 166 people were killed in the nearly 60-hour assault that sent shockwaves across the country and even brought India and Pakistan to the brink of a war.
The two leaders also pledged to work together to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems and to deny access to such weapons by terrorists and non-state actors, the statement noted.
