Describing former overseas minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari as an “immature political child,” Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party has slammed him for suggesting that Islamabad may extradite “individuals of concern” to India as a confidence-building measure.
In an interview with Al Jazeera on Friday (July 4, 2025), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairman Mr. Bilawal stated, “As part of a comprehensive dialogue with Pakistan, where terrorism is one of the issues that we discuss, I am sure Pakistan would not be opposed to any of these things.”
He was responding to a query about extraditing Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed and Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as potential concessions and good-faith gestures to India.
Both LeT and JeM have been banned by Pakistan, in accordance to the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA). Saeed, the 26/11 Mumbai terror assault mastermind, is at the moment serving a 33-year sentence for terror financing. Azhar, a UN-designated international terrorist, has been proscribed by NACTA and residing in an undisclosed place for the final a few years.
Reacting to Mr. Bilawal’s remarks, Sheikh Waqas Akram, spokesperson of the jailed former prime minister Imran Khan-led PTI, in an announcement on Saturday, stated the PPP chief is an “immature political child”, the Dawn newspaper reported on Sunday (July 6, 2025).
Mr. Bilawal’s proposal was ill-advised and detrimental to Pakistan’s nationwide safety narrative, and such statements humiliate the nation on worldwide platforms, he stated. “We fail to understand why Bilawal is so keen on appeasing India,” he stated.
The former overseas minister, Akran stated, was proving repeatedly that he lacked political knowledge, imaginative and prescient, and understanding of regional geopolitics.
“Bilawal has become a symbol of confusion and contradiction in Pakistan’s foreign policy discourse… PPP was founded by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on the legacy of Kashmir, but today, Bilawal is betraying that legacy by pursuing political gains at the expense of Kashmiri blood,” he stated.
‘Noncompliance from Delhi’
In the interview, Bilawal stated that circumstances prosecuted in opposition to these “individuals” (Saeed and Azhar) had been these associated to Pakistan, reminiscent of terrorist financing. However, he famous that prosecuting them for cross-border terrorism was tough due to what he claimed was “noncompliance” from Delhi.
“India is refusing to comply with certain basic elements that require that conviction to take place,” he stated.
“It’s important… to present evidence within these courts, for people to come over from India to testify, to put up with whatever the counter-accusations will be. If India is willing to be cooperative in that process, I am sure there will be no hurdle in extraditing any individual of concern,” Mr. Bilawal stated.
Where are Saeed and Azhar?
Pressed on the whereabouts of Saeed and Azhar, Mr. Bilawal said that the previous was incarcerated, whereas Islamabad believes the latter is in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Hafiz Saeed’s son too has questioned Mr. Bilawal’s remarks. “Bilawal Bhutto should not have talked about extradition of Pakistanis. His statement is against the state policy, national interest and sovereignty, and we strongly condemn it,” Saeed’s son Hafiz Talha Saeed stated in an announcement in Lahore on Sunday.
“Bilawal Bhutto is either unaware of ground realities or promoting the enemy’s narrative,” he stated and questioned, may a state consultant speak about handing over residents to an enemy nation?
Mr. Talha defended his father saying none of Saeed’s motion is in opposition to Pakistan.
Saeed, who has been in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail since 2019, was subsequently convicted in terror financing circumstances for a number of years. His LeT is chargeable for finishing up the 2008 Mumbai terror assaults that killed 166 folks.
Published – July 07, 2025 07:53 am IST