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India in touch with US on extradition of Tahawwur Rana: Foreign secretary Kwatra
The ruling on Rana’s extradition came just over a month before PM Modi makes his first state to the US at the invitation of Biden
India is in touch with the US authorities for speedy extradition of Tahawwur Rana, foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra said on Thursday in the wake of an American court approving the extradition to India of the Canadian-Pakistani national convicted for his role in the Mumbai attacks of 26/11.
On May 16, magistrate judge Jacqueline Chooljian of the US district court of the central district of California issued a 48-page order stating Rana should be extradited to India.
The ruling is being seen as a major step forward in India’s efforts to bring perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to justice.
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“Insofar as the question of Tahawwur Rana is concerned, we are in very regular touch with the US authorities to ensure that there is speedy and early extradition of Tahawwur Rana,” Kwatra told a news briefing.
“We have all seen the judgement which was given by the local US court. That conversation of ours with the US side is continuing,” he said.
Kwatra was responding to a question on whether prime minister Narendra Modi will take up the issue of Rana’s extradition if there is a bilateral meeting with US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan.
Kwatra didn’t confirm whether a bilateral meeting would be held. He, however, said, “The bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the G7 Summit are still being firmed up. So I am not going to make any assumptions about which meeting will happen and which will not.”
Modi will leave for Hiroshima on Friday to attend outreach sessions at the G7 summit.
The ruling on Rana’s extradition came just over a month before PM Modi makes his first state to the US at the invitation of Biden.
Rana, currently in a federal lockup in downtown Los Angeles, can appeal against the California court’s order in a circuit court.
India and the US have an extradition treaty. The US judge ruled Rana’s extradition to India would be fully within the jurisdiction of this treaty.
