Pak seeks clarification on errors in India's wanted list

Islamabad, May 29: Pakistan has sought a clarification from India regarding errors in a list of 50 most wanted terrorists and criminals that New Delhi had asked Islamabad to hand over, Foreign Office spokesperson Tehmina Janjua has said.

Pakistan will look "seriously" at any such list that is given to it by India, Janjua said.

"In the context of looking at any such issue seriously, we have referred to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs the request seeking clarification about the exact status of the list," she said.

To the embarrassment of India's Home Ministry and security agencies, it recently emerged that two men on the list of 50 most wanted fugitives were in India.

The list, handed over to Pakistan earlier this year, included the names of five Pakistani army officers linked to the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Though there had been a "great deal of discussion within the media" on the list due to the errors in it, it was "an Indian list" and "it is up to the Indians to decide who to put on it", Janjua told a news briefing at the Foreign Office yesterday.

A Pakistani news agency believed to have close links with intelligence agencies had recently reported that the Interior Ministry had rejected the Indian list but Janjua evaded a question on this issue.

Responding to another question on Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram's remarks that Pakistan had become a "fragile state", Janjua said: "As I have said repeatedly in these press briefings, we do not intend to send messages through the media. Pakistan is a strong state and Pakistanis a very resilient nation a nation that is committed to building a bright future."

PTI