New Delhi: India Thursday expressed scepticism over the efficacy of the conviction of Hafiz Saeed, the founder and patron of the banned terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), by a Pakistani court ahead of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary meeting.
A Lahore anti-terrorism court Wednesday sentenced Saeed, the mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, to five-and-a-half years jail and imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on him in two cases related to terror funding.
However, the combined 11 years of jail term in both the cases will run concurrently, thus reducing the sentence to only five and a half years.
Top official sources said Thursday that the government views the conviction as a ‘part of a long pending international obligation of Pakistan to put an end to support for terrorism’.
However, the government has taken note of the fact that the decision has been made on the eve of the FATF plenary meeting. Hence the government is not sure about the ‘efficacy of this decision’, a source said.
“The Modi government will also watch whether Pakistan would take action against all other terrorist entities and individuals operating from territories under its control,” the sources said.
India for long has been asking Pakistan to bring perpetrators of cross-border terrorist attacks, including Mumbai and Pathankot, to justice expeditiously.
“That also remains to be seen,” sources said.
IANS