Trump approves extradition of 26/11 terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana to India

New Delhi: Granting approval to the proposed extradition of 26/11 terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana, a Pakistani-origin Canadian citizen, to India to “face justice”, US President Donald Trump announced at a joint press conference that the United States and India would jointly confront and combat “radical Islamic terrorism”. In a joint statement, President Trump and Mr Modi also "called on Pakistan to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai and Pathankot attacks and ensure that its territory is not used to carry out cross-border terrorist attacks”.

President Trump said the US had approved the extradition to India of a “very evil” man (Rana) who was part of the 26/11 Mumbai attack conspiracy. “There will be more to follow (after Rana) and there are many more (extradition) requests (from India)”, Mr Trump said. On his part, Mr Modi said that the two nations will stand in solidarity against the menace of terrorism and added that “strong action” was needed to battle the scourge of cross-border terrorism, an obvious reference to Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.

Sources said that during the talks, New Delhi raised the violent anti-India activities in the US of pro-Khalistan extremists and were assured of “decisive action” against such elements, including crime syndicates and narco-terrorists. Sources said it was decided during the talks to “strengthen law enforcement cooperation to take decisive action against organised crime syndicates, including narco-terrorists, human and arms traffickers as well as other elements who threaten public and diplomatic safety and security, and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of both nations”.

Meanwhile, at a special MEA briefing later, foreign secretary Vikram Misri, while commenting on the imminent extradition of Rana to India, said: “We are working on the logistics of this, his surrender, and extradition to India. There are a few final steps to be completed, the two sides are in touch on this particular issue.” He confirmed that India had placed more extradition requests with the US but declined to spell out the names of more such individuals.

The joint statement said: “The leaders reaffirmed that the global scourge of terrorism must be fought and terrorist safe havens eliminated from every corner of the world. They committed to strengthen cooperation against terrorist threats from groups, including Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Jaish-e Mohammad, and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba in order to prevent heinous acts like the attacks in Mumbai on 26/11 and the Abbey Gate bombing in Afghanistan on August 26, 2021. Recognising a shared desire to bring to justice those who would harm our citizens, the US announced that the extradition to India of Tahawwur Rana has been approved… The leaders also pledged to work together to prevent proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems and to deny access to such weapons by terrorists and non-state actors.”

In reply to a media query, President Trump claimed that the US “Deep State” was “not involved” in developments in Bangladesh in the last six months.

On Rana’s imminent extradition, it may be noted that in what is seen as a huge diplomatic victory in India’s fight in bringing the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks to justice, the US Supreme Court had last month paved the way for extradition of Rana to India under the extradition treaty between the two nations. According to reports, the Supreme Court had turned down a review petition by Rana, dismissing his last legal challenge against his extradition to India in connection with the 2008 Mumbai attacks, in which a total of 166 people, including six Americans, were killed after 10 Pakistani terrorists laid a more than 60-hour siege, attacking people at iconic and vital locations of Mumbai.