Indeed A Significant Step: EAM S Jaishankar Responds To Marco Rubio After 26/11 Mastermind Tahawwur Rana's Extradition

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar appreciated the cooperation between the United States and India on counter-terrorism after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement welcoming the extradition of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Tahawwur Rana to India.

A day after Tahawwur Rana was successfully extradited to India from the United States, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “We extradited Tahawwur Hussain Rana to India to face charges for his role in planning the horrific 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks. Together with India, we have long sought justice for the 166 people, including 6 Americans, who lost their lives in these attacks. I’m glad that day has come.”

Welcoming the statement from his counterpart, EAM S Jaishankar said that he appreciates the counter-terrorism cooperation between the two countries, adding that this is indeed a significant step in ensuring justice for the victims of the 26/11 attacks.

Tahawwur Rana, extradited to India, sent to 18-day NIA custody 

26/11 Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Tahawwur Rana, who was extradited to India from United States on Thursday was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) soon after his arrival at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi.

Rana was escorted to the special NIA court at the Patiala House campus in Delhi where the probing agency sought a 20-day custody of the Mumbai terror attacks plotter under a high security cover. 

It was way post Thursday midnight, around 2:30 AM, the court granted an 18-day custody of Tahawwur Rana to the NIA probing team. Soon after court's order, Rana was escorted to the NIA headquarters.

In a statement after special court's order, the NIA in a statement said that they formally arrested Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the key conspirator in the deadly 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, immediately after his arrival at IGIA, New Delhi, following his successful extradition from the United States.

NIA had secured Rana's extradition following years of sustained and concerted efforts, and after the terror mastermind's last-ditch efforts to get a stay on his extradition from the US failed.

Rana was escorted to New Delhi by teams of NSG and NIA, comprising senior officials, on a special plane from Los Angeles, US. The NIA investigation team at the airport arrested Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin living primarily in Chicago (US), soon after he emerged from the airplane, after completing all the necessary legal formalities.

With the coordinated efforts of India's Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs, along with the relevant authorities in the United States, NIA has worked closely with other Indian intelligence agencies through the entire extradition process, which marked a major step in India's efforts to bring individuals involved in terrorism to justice, irrespective of which part of the world they had fled to.

Under NIA's custody now, Tahawwur Rana's will be interrogated in three phases to unearth his role in the deadly Mumbai terror attacks, his links to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hafiz Saeed, and his suspected connections with Pakistan ’s intelligence agency ISI.