News
Sunday, July 11, 2010
‘Pakistan won’t hand over 26/11 suspects to India’* President says ‘non-state actors’ who derailed Indo-Pak talks will be brought to justice in Pakistan
* Govt will survive political turmoil, complete term
* Pakistan will cooperate with China in fight against separatism, extremism and terrorismBEIJING: President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday ruled out handing over the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to India, saying the “non-state actors” who derailed the Indo-Pak rapprochement would “hopefully” be brought to justice in his country.
Zardari, who concluded a five-day visit to China, in an interview said Pakistanis involved in the Mumbai attacks could not be handed over to India, as there was no extradition treaty between the two countries.
“I do not think it works like that between the two nations. There has to be bilateral treaties of that sort, which do not exist between us. But we are trying those people in Pakistan. Hopefully we will bring the offenders to justice,” he said.
He underlined that the non-state actors who attacked Mumbai had succeeded in derailing the India-Pak peace process, but hoped India’s “mature democracy” would show “foresight” in taking forward the resumed talks.
However, the “non-state actors managed to stall it for some time”, he said.
“Now I think it is back on track and hopefully will go forward,” the president said, insisting that Pakistan wanted to be friends with all its neighbours.
Turmoil: Zardari said his government would complete its five-year term and survive the political turmoil.
About India-US ties, he said, “We complement those ties. When India was going with civil nuclear deal with the US, we did not oppose it, so we did not mind that our friends have influence on other friends and we expect the same from others.” Zardari praised the ongoing China-Pakistan anti-terror drill in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region.
Evil forces: He said Pakistan would not only cooperate with China in the fight against the “three evil forces” – separatism, extremism and terrorism – but also share intelligence with it.
Earlier, speaking at the pavilions that showcase Pakistan and China’s historical growth and development through millennia, the president said that Pakistan and China’s relations were thousands of years old dating back to when Buddhism flourished in parts of the world that now constitute Pakistan.
He said that China’s rapid economic progress was a model for the third world countries and that Pakistan had a lot to learn from China.
The president said China was the third largest economy of the world and because of its economic strength it was destined to play a great role in the New World Order.
“Indeed the New World Order cannot be conceived without China,” he said. agencies
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk