Pakistan is taking India's dossier on the Mumbai terror attacks "extremely seriously" and will "have to act fast" to complete its probe, Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani has said.
"The dossier passed on to the government of Pakistan, we are taking it extremely seriously, and we have already started (an) investigation and the results will come soon," he told the 'Financial Times' daily in an interview.
Gilani also hinted that Pakistan could consider the option of extraditing terror suspects to India if relations between the two countries were normalised.
Replying to a question on whether he would ever agree to extradition of terror suspects to India, he said: "So far there is no such thing. But that depends on our normalisation of relations."
Asked how quickly the Pakistani investigation into the Mumbai attacks will proceed, Gilani replied, "I don't want to step into the domain of the Interior Ministry but at the same time we have to act fast."
The Premier said he had also spoken to his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh about extending full cooperation for further intelligence sharing. "And even for getting to the culprits, we'll be needing their assistance," he said.
If any culprits are detected during the Pakistani investigation, the government will "proceed according to the law and we will ensure...that justice will be done", he said.
The Indo-Pak ties nose-dived in the wake of the Mumbai attacks that killed over 180 people. India blamed Pakistan- based elements for masterminding and coordinating the attacks.
After weeks of denial, Pakistan recently acknowledged that Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone terrorist arrested in India during the attacks, is a Pakistani national.
Asked if it was his understanding that the attacks were launched from Pakistan, Gilani said: "No, this is not the issue because the Government of India doesn't blame the government (of Pakistan), they don't even blame the organisations, institutions.
"They were only pointing out to the individuals, those people, are from every part of the world." Gilani described the New Year's greetings and peace message he had recently received from Prime Minister Singh as "a good sign".
Noting that Uzbek, Chechen, Arab and Afghan terrorists are operating in Pakistan, Gilani contended that such persons should be countered but an attack could not be launched on their country of origin.
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About Me
- Mountaintreks
- I like Nature...it rejuvenates me....I like the silence of the mountains...feel kind of out of place if there is too much of high music or too much of use of horns...Love to cook Asian food.