Pakistan says it takes India's fugitive list with 'seriousness'

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan today skirted the issue of errors in a list of 50 wanted fugitives sought by India and said it would consider New Delhi's requests for tracing suspects believed to be on Pakistani soil with "great seriousness".

To the embarrassment of India's Home Ministry and security agencies, it recently emerged that two men on the list of 50 most wanted fugitives were in India.

The list, handed over to Pakistan earlier this year, included the names of five Pakistani army officers linked to the Mumbai attacks.

"It's an Indian list. The Indians can put any name they want on it. It is for them to decide who to put on the list. As far as we are concerned, we will consider any such issue raised with us with great seriousness," Foreign Office spokesperson Tehmina Janjua told a weekly news briefing.

Janjua was responding to a question on errors detected in the Indian list.

Asked if India had formally withdrawn the list, she replied: "We have no information. This is only in the media domain".

Pakistan, she said, is working for "result-oriented and meaningful dialogue" with India.

The recent resumption of the dialogue process with India has led to "substantive engagement at the secretaries-level on matters of counter-terrorism, commerce and trade and Wullar-water issues", she said.

"We are pursuing these talks in an open and constructive manner to achieve a result-oriented process of engagement," Janjua said.