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| Advani says joint set-up useless as it doesn't cover fugitives | | |
HATHRAS (UP), APR 3
Observing that there has been no change in Pakistan's stand over an extradition pact with India since the Agra Summit, senior BJP leader L K Advani today said that the joint anti-terror mechansim with Islamabad has no meaning and should be scrapped.
"If it (joint mechanism) is not to be applied to fugitives of Indian law it should be scrapped immediately," he told PTI.
His comments came a day after Pakistan rejected an Indian proposal for an extradition framework between the two countries.
The former deputy prime minister, however, said Pakistan's stand has not come as a surprise to him as he recalled his talks with President Prevez Musharraf during his visit to India for the Agra summit.
"I am not surprised. I recall it was in Agra when I first raised the issue with General Musharraf and he declined," the BJP leader said.
He recounted that the same year, India had signed an extradition treaty with Turkey and conveyed to the visiting Pakistani leader that there was a greater need for New Delhi to have a similar pact with Islamabad.
A joint mechanism with Pakistan, he remarked, was useless if it does not cover fugitives and the Kashmir issue.
The BJP leader, whose trip to Pakistan in 2005 had landed him in a controversy over his Jinnah comments, however has told visiting Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz that he would visit his country once Katasraj temples near Lahore were rebuild.
Advani, who met Aziz at a Pakistani High Commission reception last night, had taken up the matter with Islamabad for repair and renovation of the ancient temples.
"He asked me to visit Pakistan and I told him that I would sure once the construction work on the
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