NEW DELHI, March 19: India on Wednesday accused Pakistan of refusing to hand over hijackers involved in the 1999 seizure of a passenger plane that was commandeered and flown to Afghanistan.
Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said despite several requests by India, Islamabad had failed to hand over the hijackers who, he said, New Delhi believed were in Pakistan.
Pakistan has consistently denied that it is harbouring the hijackers.
“The matter is still being pursued with the Pakistan government, including through the joint anti-terrorism mechanism and the home secretary-level talks on terrorism under the Composite Dialogue,” he told parliament.
The New Delhi-bound aircraft with 157 people on board was hijacked and flown to Kandahar by five men after it took off from the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu on December 24, 1999.
The crisis ended after India’s then Hindu nationalist government swapped the captives for three militants imprisoned in New Delhi. The freed militants and the five hijackers are on a list of 20 most-wanted men India says have been granted sanctuary by Pakistan.—AFP
