No Extradition Treaty? No Problem: How Pakistan Could Hand Over Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar To India – And Why It Never Will | World News
New Delhi: This was not a policy change or the cabin decision. He did not come out of any place – a statement that Bilawal Butto of Pakistan could return Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar to India as “goodwill gestures .. No road map. No preparation. Just a sentence. However, he triggered a speculation rush. Some said brave. Others refused as noise. It was strange for Islamabad. He was familiar for the new Delhi – a word that doesn’t mean anything in practice.
Weakly wearing a treaty excuse
Butto’s interpretation may have briefly illuminated the news rooms, but a harsh truth lies behind the show. Pakistan does not need a return agreement to deliver Saeed and Azhar. He never did it. Countries around the world have made a refund, especially in terrorist cases without official agreements. The important thing is intention. And this is exactly the lack of Pakistan.
Even if not used, the legal path is open. India and Pakistan have no agreement. India proposed this in 2004, but Islamabad never responded. Nevertheless, international law allows it to be returned without one. The only thing needed is political will.
In 2023, India sent an official return request for Saeed and Azhar – both of them both sought in the deadly 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks and the 2001 parliamentary attack. However, Islamabad argued that the two countries were not an agreement.
There are three legal reasons that make it possible. The first is “double guilt”. If an action is a crime in both countries, it is entitled. Terrorism meets this bar. Both India and Pakistan are officially illegal. Even Pervez Musharraf, former president of Pakistan and Chief of Army Personnel, admitted that people like Saeed and Azhar were behind cross -border attacks.
The second principle is reciprocity. Even if there is no agreement, nations may agree to return individuals based on mutual interests. India did this with other countries before.
The third is based on traditional international law. Global norms encourage states to act against terrorist suspects independently of documents. So yes, Pakistan can move. But it won’t happen.
The legal process is open – and it already continues
The process is official but far from complex. India has already presented official demands. Files have been changed. The identities, accusations and places of the defendants are not mystery. Pakistani courts may examine the request under their legal code.
If everything controls, the government makes the last call. And that’s every time it stands.
What really blocks hallekis
Because Saeed and Azhar carry weight in Pakistan. They serve a much greater purpose than their own reasons. They help the army to maintain their understanding of the country’s foreign policy. Anti -Indian propaganda fuels. They keep the narratives of Kashmir alive. And above all, they remind you that the army is calling for shots, not the civilian government.
Sending them along the border does more than closing a case. He would open a wound that the Pakistani army has been trying to be sealed for decades. Pakistan’s nurturing, protecting and using these men for years to admit that the new Delhi claimed. This is a line that the generals don’t want to pass.
Even if an elected government wanted to pass through a refund, he would not move without shaking Rawalpindi. And this head does not come. Because it is not a legal question to surrender a terrorist in Pakistan. Is a political grade.
For now, Saeed and Azhar always stay where they are. Protected. Untouched. Not because they are innocent. The law is not because it prevents it. But the system protects them and depends on them.
