Pakistan's Bilawal Bhutto makes BIG statement, says 'Islamabad ready to hand over Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar to India only if...'

Pakistan's former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that Islamabad would be open to extraditing individuals of concern, including terrorists like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) founder Masood Azhar, as a goodwill gesture to India. 

However, Bhutto claimed, New Delhi "should be willing to cooperate with Islamabad in the process.". Speaking to Al Jazeera, Bhutto, who is also the chief of Pakistan People's Party (PPP), said that such a move could be a part of a "comprehensive dialogue" between the two nations. 

"As part of a comprehensive dialogue with Pakistan, where terrorism is one of the issues that we discuss, I am sure Pakistan would not be opposed to any of these things," he said. One being asked whether Islamabad would hand over dreaded terrorists including Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar to India, he claimed that New Delhi is "refusing to comply with certain basic elements that require that conviction to take place". 

"If India is willing to be cooperative in that process, I am sure there will be no hurdle in extraditing any individual of concern", Bhutto said. 

India rejects claims

As per a report by Times of India, India has repeatedly rejected Pakistan's claims, asserting it made multiple efforts to cooperate with Islamabad after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, including the submission of over 1,000 dossiers containing credible evidence of Pakistan-based terrorists’ involvement in the massacre, but Pakistan kept dragging the matter under the pretext of paperworks without any concrete action.

Hafiz Saeed is the mastermind of the deadly 26/11 attacks in India which had left more than 150 people dead. Masood Azhar is a UN-designated global terrorist and has been banned by Nacta.