Can't return Dawood as we don't know where he is: Pakistan envoy

Abdul Basit, who is on a three-day trip to Nagpur, said that talks are the only way to ensure peace and stability in the region

With media reports replete with information on whereabouts of India's most wanted criminal Dawood Ibrahim, hinting at him being in Karachi, Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit, on Saturday, said there is no question of handing over the underworld don to India, as Islamabad was not aware about his location in the first place.

Abdul Basit, interacting with the media at Patrakar Bhavan here, first evaded the question on the Dawood, but later said that there was no question of handing over to the Don, as he was not in Pakistan.

"Don't know where he is. He is not in Pakistan. Please don't expect someone who is not in Pakistan to be handed over to you. How is it possible to hand over someone whose whereabouts we do not know," he said.

Basit, who is on a three-day trip to Nagpur, said that talks are the only way to ensure peace and stability in the region.

"Unless the meaningful and uninterrupted dialogue is held, nothing is going to work. Usually, focus is on terrorism and Kashmir. But there are other issues, too, that deserve discussions," he said.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had last month said that India's most wanted fugitive Dawood Ibrahim will be nabbed soon and brought to India.

The Union Minister, however, has not mentioned any specific time duration for this.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had earlier reiterated that it will continue to pursue Pakistan to handover Dawood after a television channel claimed that it has tracked his location.