Masood Azhar too unwell to leave house, claims Pak Foreign Minister Qureshi
Amidst the tension between India and Pakistan escalating at the border, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has claimed that ‘Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar is in Pakistan and he is too unwell to even leave his house.’
In an interview with CNN news channel, Qureshi claimed “Azhar is in Pakistan. According to my information, he is very unwell. He is unwell to the extent that he can’t leave his house, because he’s really unwell.”
Masood Azhar, who heads the Jaish-e-Mohammad terror group, has been responsible for various attacks in India like the 2001 Parliament, Pathankot Air base attack, Pulwama blast, which killed more than 40 CRPF soldiers among others.
India has been repeatedly trying to blacklist Masood Azhar and put him under the UN list of “global terrorist” although China has been blaocking India’s attempts by vetoing its power.
Qureshi said to CNN that they are ready to take action against Masood Azhar “if provided with credible evidence that can stand in the court of law.” And India has already submitted its dossier to Pakistan about the recent Pulwama attack.
“If they have solid, inalienable evidence that is acceptable to courts of Pakistan, share it with us so that we can convince the people and we can convince the independent judiciary of Pakistan,” the foreign minister said, adding that there is a “need to satisfy the legal process.”
Now, France, Japan, UK all have agreed to balcklist Masood Azhar in United Nations Security Council and now, it would be seen how China responds to the mounting global pressure to designate Azhar as the terrorist, which China has been shielding from a couple of years.
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First published: 1 March 2019, 10:54 IST