NEW DELHI: Following the US Supreme Court‘s decision to clear the way for Tahawwur Rana‘s extradition to India, Pakistan has sought to distance itself from the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks co-conspirator, asserting that Rana is no longer a Pakistani citizen.
Rana, a Pakistani-origin Canadian national, is set to face trial in India for his alleged role in the devastating 2008 attacks that claimed over 160 lives.
“Tahawwur Rana has not renewed his Pakistani documents for over two decades. His Canadian nationality is very clear,”
Ani news agency quoted foreign affairs spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan saying.
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It is worth noting that Pakistan permits its citizens who have relocated to Canada to maintain dual citizenship.
The US Secretary of State authorised Rana’s extradition to India by signing the surrender warrant on February 11. Although Rana’s legal team filed an emergency stay motion, the US SC rejected his petition on April 7.
Rana had arranged passports for fellow jihadi, Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley, aka Dawood Gilani, to travel to India to select targets for the terror attack that was being hatched by Lashkar in collaboration with ISI, Pakistan’s spy agency. Rana gloated over the deaths in Mumbai on Nov 26, 2008 and said that the jihadis responsible for it should be given Pakistan’s highest posthumous military honours, according to NIA.
So far only Ajmal Kasab, the sole LeT terrorist involved in 26/11 rampage who was nabbed alive, had been prosecuted.
Rana’s transfer from the United States to Delhi is underway. Upon arrival in India, he is expected to be housed in Tihar jail.
The 64-year-old Canadian citizen, born in Pakistan, is known to have close ties with David Coleman Headley (also known as Daood Gilani), a US national who was a primary plotter in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
His extradition to India proceeds after the US Supreme Court dismissed his final appeal to prevent the transfer.