Speaking in the National Assembly or lower house of parliament yesterday, Minister of State Khan said the Indian government had demanded the extradition of people allegedly involved in the Mumbai attacks but President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had rejected this demand.

The government had acted on evidence related to the Mumbai attacks that was provided by India and "more evidences were required from New Delhi for further action", he said.

India has been asked to provide this evidence and Pakistan "would bring the people involved in the incident to justice but in our own country, not in India", Khan said.

Khan made the comments during a debate in the National Assembly on the performance of the foreign ministry in connection with allocations made for it in the current budget. Opposition members criticised the ministry for not taking steps to protect Pakistan's image after the Mumbai attacks.

The special court in Mumbai has issued non-bailable arrest warrants for 22 Pakistanis, including the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jamat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, who was recently released from detention on the orders of the Lahore High Court.