India’s Ministry of External Affairs has summoned a senior Pakistani diplomat on Friday and delivered a "note verbale" (diplomatic note), calling on the Pakistan government to abide by its commitment not to allow territories under its control to harbour terrorists who pose a threat to India.
India has also asked Pakistan to stop practising “double standards” and bring the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks to justice as quickly as possible.
“This is not just a matter of Pakistan’s accountability to the families of the innocent victims who were killed by terrorists, but also an international obligation,” the ministry said.
The move comes on the 13th anniversary of the 26 November Mumbai terrorist attacks in which 166 people from 15 countries were killed. The ministry claimed that the outrage was planned, executed, and launched from Pakistani territory.
"The former prime minister of Pakistan [Nawaz Sharif] went on record and admitted that the terrorists were sent from Pakistan's soil," the ministry said, referring to Sharif's statement in 2018 where he mentioned that non-state actors crossed the border and killed people in Mumbai.
During the 60-hours siege, Indian forces gunned down nine terrorists and captured one who had infiltrated the city from the Arabian Sea.
Identified as Ajmal Kasab, the terrorist was subsequently hanged in Mumbai in 2012.
Soon after the attack, India shared more than a dozen dossiers with Pakistan. A trial was started in Pakistan's Rawalpindi court, but the progress was halted after a dispute arose over evidence between the two countries in 2015. Pakistan rejected India's dossiers as evidence, claiming they held no legal weight in court.
In 2015, Pakistan's Anti-Terrorism Court where the Mumbai terror attacks were being tried, ordered the production of 24 Indian witnesses which India refused, citing a threat to their lives.
There are a total of seven accused, including mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi. The remaining six are Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younis Anjum.