India demands 'credible crackdown' from Pakistan on Hafiz Saeed

With Pakistan placing Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed and four others under house arrest, India on Tuesday said that only a 'credible crackdown' on the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind and other terrorists organisations will prove the 'sincerity' of the Asian neighbours.

External Affairs Ministry official spokesperson Vikas Swarup said that the government has seen the reports on Pakistan Interior Ministry order, placing the JuD and the Falah-e-Insaniyet Foundation under the watchlist and also the notification under which the foundation has been included in the second schedule of their anti-terror legislation under UN Security Council Resolution number 1267.

"We have also noted that Hafiz Saeed and four others have been placed under preventive detention.Exercises such as yesterday's orders against Hafiz Saeed and others have been carried out by Pakistan in the past also," Swarup said.

The MEA spokesperson also insisted that India have consistently called for bringing known terrorists under the ambit of the 1267 sanctions.

"Only a credible crack down on the mastermind of the Mumbai terrorist attack and terrorist organisations involved in cross border terrorism would be a proof of Pakistan's sincerity," Swarup said.

Saeed, including Abdullah Ubaid, Zafar Iqbal, Abdur Rehman Abid and Qazi Kashif Niaz have been put under house arrest by Pakistan's interior ministry.

A notification by the ministry said that the Ministry of Interior has "placed Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) and Jamaat-Ud-Dawa (JUD) on the Watch List and have listed these organizations in the Second Schedule of the ATA 1997 (as amended)."

"Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Abdullah Ubaid, Zafar Iqbal, Abdur Rehman Abid and Qazi Kashif Niaz are reportedly active members of the aforementioned organizations within the meaning of Section 11EEE(1) of the ATA 1997 (as amended). As such, they must be placed under preventive detention."

Pakistani authorities, facing mounting pressure from the Trump administration, placed Saeed and four others under detention, on Monday night.

The action was taken under an anti-terrorism act.