What is dossier diplomacy?

The recent statement by Information and Broadcast minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore on dossier diplomacy has triggered innumerable questions regarding the foreign policies of India.

With underworld don Dawood Ibrahim being the centre of contention these days and the evidences trailing his presence in Pakistan, general public would would certainly be even more interested in what India is doing about it.

Dossier diplomacy

A form of negotiation between two countries that demand the most-wanted in their country to be handed over to them in exchange for the person or the thing they demand. Explaining the situation in simple words was Salman Basheer, the foreign secretary of Pakistan in 2011, who said,"We could do a swap of the most wanted to break the diplomatic logjam. For instance, we can trade Dawood Ibrahim for Aishwarya Rai."

Jokingly, Nirupama Roy, the foreign secretary of India then had said,"In that case, we will be making some additions to our list of most wanted men. The BCCI requires 4 express fast bowlers to help India defend its #1 Test ranking going forward. They are even willing to settle for Mohammed Amir and Mohammed Asif".

[Read: India ready to neutralise Dawood: Rathore]

Diplomacy fails with Dawood

India has been demanding for Dawood who has been traced to Pakistan amid denial by the latter. The mastermind of the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai that claimed 300 lives, Dawood is the most-wanted man in the world.

Dawood has been tracked in Karachi, alive and kicking, and is heard expanding his real estate business," web-portal
NewsMobile said based on tapes received from western diplomatic sources.

"This clearly proves that the underworld don is blatantly running his terror supermarket from Pakistan and his real estate interests are helping him generate enough funds to expand his operations," said NewsMobile editor-in-chief Saurabh Shukla.

Where dossier fails and diplomacy is turned down

Dawood Ibrahim is not the only fugutive in Pakistan who is denied being sheltered. There are at least 50 most-wanted fugitives of India hiding in that country. 26/11 mastermind and LeT founder Hafiz Saeed and dreaded terrorist Zaki ur Rehman Lakhvi.

[Read: Pakistan foreign office denies Dawood's presence in country]

Some of the others include Sajid Majid, Tiger Memon, Chhota shakeel, Rashid Abdullah, Illyas Kashmiri, Ranjit Singh, Wadhawa Singh, Abu Hamza, Amir Reza Khan, Feroz Abdul Rashid Khan, Irfan Ahmed Gulzar Chaugule and many others.