Islamabad: :Pakistan will take action against any terrorist group operating against India from its soil and consider a request for extraditing underworld don Dawood Ibrahim if New Delhi provides “authentic proof” in this regard, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said.

Gillani said his Government could also consider India’s request for access to terrorist leaders like Masood Azhar, who was released in return for safety of passengers of Indian Airlines plane hijacked to Kandahar in 1999, if it is backed by evidence. Rejecting India’s concerns over terrorism in Kashmir being financed and executed by Pakistan-based groups like Lashker-e-Taiba with the backing of the ISI, he said “we are already working with the whole world for extremism and terrorism, and our point of view is extremely clear that we are against terrorism and extremism”.

“We have lost our own leader (former premier) Benazir Bhutto because of (terrorism). How can I deny that? At the same time, we are fighting against terrorism,” Gilani told interviewer Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN news channel’s programme Devil’s Advocate.

On India’s demand for extradition of Dawood Ibrahim who New Delhi says is based in Pakistan, Gilani initially refused to comment saying he had “not studied” the matter or been briefed on it. On being pressed and asked if his Government would extradite Ibrahim if the Indian Government made a good case, Gilani said, “Yes, I have an open mind....Again, the onus is on (the Indian) side.”

Asked about India’s belief that terrorism by groups like LeT was the biggest irritant in bilateral ties, he indicated the matter was linked to the “core issue of Kashmir”. Describing Indian concerns about the presence of terrorist training camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as unfounded, the Pakistani PM said, “I visited Kashmir. The whole world is there for the reconstruction of Kashmir (after the 2005 earthquake). There are no such camps.”

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