New Delhi: Ahead of their foreign minister-level talks Wednesday, India Sunday said it was ready to provide evidence on absconding underworld don Dawood Ibrahim if Pakistan asked for it.

"We will give evidence to Pakistan on Dawood Ibrahim, if asked," an official source said here Sunday, adding that India did not plan to present the "evidence" on its own.

The comment came after Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani said this month his government would consider a request for Dawood's extradition if India provided "authentic proof".

Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon will hold discussions with his Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir Tuesday in Islamabad, followed by talks between External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Pakistani Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi Wednesday.

The source pointed out that Dawood had already been proclaimed a "global terrorist" by the US in 2003 and that there were several Interpol notices on him.

Dawood allegedly masterminded the 1993 serial Mumbai bomb blasts, which claimed 257 lives.

India has in previous meetings given to Pakistan a list of criminals, which included Dawood, wanted to stand trials in India.

Dawood, India's most wanted criminal, figured as number four in Forbes' first ever list of the world's most dreaded criminals and terrorists.

On April 23, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director Vijay Shanker said the agency knew Dawood's whereabouts but Pakistan's non-cooperation was impeding his arrest.

"The CBI has facts that Dawood is being given safe shelter in Pakistan. But Pakistan is not cooperating," he had told reporters.

The CBI has been raising the issue through diplomatic channels but Pakistan has denied Dawood's presence on its soil.

 

Source : IANS