No demand by India for Saeed arrest

India has not demanded the arrest of Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed and the issue did not even figure in the Foreign Secretary-level talks with Pakistan last month....

India has not demanded the arrest of Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed and the issue did not even figure in the Foreign Secretary-level talks with Pakistan last month,Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Saturday.

You will be surprised that they made no demand (for the arrest of Saeed). They did not even mention Hafiz Saeed in the entire talks, Qureshi told reporters in his hometown of Multan.

Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit had told a briefing on Thursday that India had not asked for the handing over of Saeed,also the founder of the Lashkar-e-Toiba.

India believes Saeed is the man behind the Mumbai attacks of November 26,2008.

Following talks with her Pakistani counterpart last month,Indias Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao had said that Pakistan should take action against persons like Saeed and control their activities.

On February 5,Hafiz Saeed and other militant leaders gathered in Lahore to observe Kashmir Solidarity Day. A Delhi-based news channel had produced a recording of his speech at the rally in which he called for jihad against India.

Foreign Minister Qureshi also told reporters that Pakistan is not interested in talks for the sake of talks or photo opportunities. Instead,it wants talks that are result-oriented and meaningful,he said.

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Our stand is very clear we were ready for talks yesterday and we are ready today too. But we want purposeful and meaningful talks, he said.