'Pak Doesn't Know Where Masood Azhar Is, May Be In Afghanistan': Bilawal Bhutto's Stunner

Masood Azhar is one of India's most wanted terrorists and the headquarters of his outfit, Jaish-e-Muhammed, had been targeted during Operation Sindoor.

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Mr Bhutto is the head of the Pakistan People's Party.
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Summary is AI-generated, newsroom-reviewed
  • Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said Pakistan will arrest Azhar if India gives information that he is on Pak soil
  • Azhar, head of the Jaish-e-Muhammed, is one of India's most-wanted terrorists
  • Bhutto said Azhar's past indicates he may be in Afghanistan
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Pakistani politician Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has, in a stunning claim, said Islamabad does not know where Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar is, adding that the country would be "happy to" arrest him if India gives information that he is on Pakistani soil.

Masood Azhar is one of India's most-wanted terrorists and has been involved in the 2001 Parliament attack, 26/11 Mumbai attacks, 2016 Pathankot attack and the 2019 Pulwama attack, among others. Azhar, who was designated a global terrorist by the United Nations in 2019, was released in exchange for the passengers of IC-814 after the Kandahar hijacking in 1999.

India has been demanding that Pakistan hand over Azhar and Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed and Islamabad has been feigning ignorance despite evidence of them being active there. 

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Mr Bhutto - head of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), which is part of the ruling coalition in the country - said Saeed is not a free man in Pakistan and Azhar may be in Afghanistan. 

To a question on a New York Times report stating that Saeed is free, Mr Bhutto said, "That's not accurate. That's factually not correct that Hafiz Saeed is a free man. He is in the custody of the Pakistani state. As far as Masood Azhar is concerned, we have been unable to arrest him or identify him. Given his past within the Afghan jihad context, it is our belief that he is in Afghanistan."

"If and when the Indian government shares information with us that he is on Pakistani soil, we would be more than happy to arrest him. The fact is, the Indian government is not..." he said.

Pressed on why Pakistan would expect, or wait for, India to give information about Azhar, the PPP chief said, "When you have a CT (counterterrorism) cooperation with any country, we provide groups of our concern, they provide groups of their concern. That's how we managed to thwart attacks here in London, thwart attacks in New York, thwart attacks in Pakistan."

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"As far as Masood Azhar is concerned, if he is in Afghanistan, the West has now handed over to a group that once upon a time they called terrorists, and now they call the people in charge of Afghanistan... It's not possible for Pakistan to go and do what all of NATO was unable to do within Afghanistan. There's no reason for Pakistan to want to see this individual or any individual of concern to be active."

Indus Statement

Mr Bhutto's remarks are especially significant given the April 22 Pahalgam attack and India's response in the form of Operation Sindoor. India targeted key terror bases in the country during the operation, including the headquarters of the Lashkar-e-Taiba in Muridke and the Jaish-e-Mohammed in Bahawalpur. Azhar had said that 10 members of his family and four of his aides had been killed during India's strikes.

The PPP chief has also been very vocal on India suspending the Indus Waters Treaty, going as far as threatening that Pakistan would go to war if it was denied water. "The Indus is ours and will remain ours - either our water will flow through it, or their blood," he had said.

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Union Minister Hardeep Puri responded, saying such statements should not be dignified. "Tell him to jump somewhere in water. Well, how will he when there will be no water?" Mr Puri had said.

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