Bring Mumbai attackers to justice: EU to Pakistan

BRUSSELS - The 27-nation European Union Friday joined India in calling upon Pakistan to bring the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai attack to justice and denounced those who provide safe havens to terrorists.

A joint declaration adopted after the 11th India-EU summit said the two sides “called upon Pakistan to expeditiously bring all the perpetrators, authors and accomplices of the Mumbai attacks to justice”.

However, without explicitly naming Pakistan, the two sides asked “all countries to deny safe haven to terrorists and to dismantle terror infrastructure on the territories under their control”.

The Brussels declaration also denounced “those who sponsor, abet and instigate terrorism and provide terrorists safe havens” and expressed “concern at the continuing existence of safe havens, including in the cross-border dimension”.

This is the first time that the EU - the largest trading partner of India - has urged Pakistan to act against those who orchestrated the Nov 26, 2008 attack in Mumbai. The strike killed 166 people after 10 Pakistani terrorists sneaked into the financial capital of India and launched savagery at multiple places that lasted for three days.

The Indian government wants Pakistan to conclude its trial against Lashkar-e-Taiba’s - the terror outfit blamed for the mayhem - Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six others charged with involvement in the Mumbai attacks.

India has given Pakistan 11 dossiers on its probe into the Mumbai attack. But Islamabad says the information is not enough to conclude the trial against the arrested LeT militants. The attack also stalled the peace talks between the two nations.

The joint statement also agreed that terrorism must be combated “firmly” and emphasizing that the EU and India stand united in combating threats caused by terrorist acts.

Recognising their respective humanitarian assistance to flood-hit Pakistan, they voiced a “shared hope for a speedy recovery and emphasized that a democratic and prosperous Pakistan was in the interest of the entire region”.

They also decided to continue discussing counter terrorism cooperation at high level meetings within their security dialogue and enhance law enforcement and police cooperation.

They resolved to continue with the efforts to prevent access by terrorists to financial and other resources and

They said they would “intensify their efforts to render the widest possible measure of mutual legal assistance and to expedite processing of extradition requests and to explore the possibility of an EU-India Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement and an EU-India Agreement on Extradition.”