Routine for Pakistan to come up with 'farcical actions' prior to key international meets: MEA on Lakhvi sentencing

NEW DELHI:  India on Friday slammed Pakistan over the sentencing of 26/11 mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, saying the timing of the action suggests Islamabad’s intention of conveying a sense of compliance ahead of key global meetings.

“The timing of these actions clearly suggests the intention of conveying a sense of compliance ahead of the APJG meeting and next FATF plenary meeting in February 2021,” Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said.

“It has become routine for Pakistan to come up with such farcical actions prior to important meetings. UN proscribed entities and designated terrorists act as proxies for Pakistani establishment to fulfill its anti-India agenda. It is for the international community to hold Pakistan to account and ensure that it takes credible action against terror groups, terror infrastructure and individual terrorists,” he added.

Lakhvi was sentenced to 15 years in jail in a terror-financing case by an anti-terrorism court in Lahore. The LeT commander was arrested by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab province last Saturday. 

“The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Lahore convicted Lakhvi for commission of offences of terrorism financing in a case registered by the CTD for 15 years under different section of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997,” a court official as saying after the hearing. He is also on the NIA’s most wanted list.

Judge Ejaz Ahmad Buttar sentenced Lakhvi to five years of rigorous imprisonment each on three counts with a fine of PKR 100,000 (approximately $620) each on three counts. Lakhvi pleaded before the court that he was ‘falsely implicated’ in this case.