PPP Chairman and former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that Pakistan has no objection to handing over “specific individuals,” including Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed and Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar, to India as a confidence-building measure, provided New Delhi demonstrates a willingness to cooperate with Pakistan.
It should be noted that relations between Pakistan and India have been tense for a long time. Tensions between the two countries increased after the attack in Pahalgam area of occupied Kashmir in April 2025, which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan without evidence, resulting in a 4-day war that ended after US intervention.
Earlier, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has repeatedly called for talks between Pakistan and India to establish peace in the region.
In an exclusive interview with Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera, when Bilawal Bhutto was asked whether it was possible to hand over Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed and Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar to India as a goodwill gesture, he replied that if there are comprehensive talks between Pakistan and India, in which the issue of terrorism is discussed, then I am sure that Pakistan will not have any objection to these matters.
The National Counter-Terrorism Authority (NACTA) has banned both Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad organizations in Pakistan. Hafiz Saeed is currently serving a 33-year sentence on charges of financing terrorism, while Masood Azhar has been banned by NACTA.
The PPP chairman further said that cases are being filed against these individuals in the country on charges such as financing terrorism, however, he stressed that it is difficult to prosecute these individuals for cross-border terrorism due to non-cooperation from India.
In response to a question, he said that India is not following the basic requirements necessary to bring these individuals to justice. He explained his point by saying that presenting evidence in the courts, bringing witnesses from India to Pakistan, all this is necessary. If India is willing to cooperate in this process, I am sure that there will be no obstacle in the extradition of any such individual.
Bilawal expressed concern over India’s determination to chase terrorists as a new narrative and said that the new narrative that India wants to impose on the region is that any terrorist attack in India means war with Pakistan. This is neither in the interest of Pakistan nor in the interest of India.
When the former foreign minister was asked about the current location of Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar, he said that Hafiz Saeed is in the custody of the state of Pakistan, while the government of Pakistan believes that Masood Azhar is in Afghanistan. This is contrary to the facts that Hafiz Saeed is a free citizen, he is in the custody of the Pakistani state.
Bilawal Bhutto added that we believe that he is in Afghanistan, whenever the Indian government provides information that Masood Azhar is present on Pakistani soil, we will be happy to arrest him, but the fact is that the Indian government is no longer mentioning these individuals, nor those who played a role in the terrorist attack on the basis of which this war was started.
The PPP chairman added that the war was imposed on the basis of a lie, this is a dangerous example being set and India is trying to take advantage of it, just say ‘terrorists’ and attack a sovereign, Muslim country.
