Islamabad: In a tit-for-tat action, Pakistan Friday summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner in Islamabad and said India's reaction on a court order to release LeT terrorist and Mumbai attack mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi is “unwarranted and immature”, even as it accused New Delhi of failing to give “actionable evidence” in the case.
The retaliatory act came shortly after Pakistan High Commissioner in New Delhi Abdul Basit was summoned by officiating Foreign Secretary Anil Wadhwa who lodged a strong protest against Islamabad High court order to release Lakhvi, saying freeing him will pose a threat which “cannot be ignored”.
Indian Deputy High Commissioner J P Singh was summoned to the Foreign Office where the Pakistani side informed him that the court's release order was not meant to wrap the trial of the case and “India should avoid creating hue and cry” over the court ruling on Lakhvi's release.
“We have conveyed our concerns that Indian reaction is unwarranted and immature,” a senior foreign office official told media.
He said Pakistan was committed to try the accused but India “failed to give “actionable evidence”.
“Despite Pakistan's repeated requests, credible evidence about Mumbai attacks was never shared,” he said.
The Pakistani official held the Indian government responsible for the delay in the trial of the case.
Pakistan also expressed displeasure over the manner Basit was summoned by Indian authorities.
“We call Ambassadors but it is done quietly. While the Indian External Affairs Ministry called our ambassador for meeting at the same time they leaked it to the media,” the official said.
He said it showed India was “point scoring” by creating hype and “whipping up anti-Pakistan sentiments”.
The Pakistani side also raised the 2007 Samjhauta train blast case, in which 68 people including several Pakistani nationals were killed, contending that there was undue delay in the trial.
The official accused India of deliberately delaying the trial of those involved in the blast case.
The Islamabad High Court Friday suspended the detention order of Lashkar-e-Toiba operations commander Lakhvi and ordered his immediate release.
