'UPA-era groundwork': P Chidambaram credits Congress for Tahawwur Rana's extradition

P Chidambaram

Hours before 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Hussain Rana's special aircraft is expected to land at Delhi's Palam airport, former Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has credited UPA government's deiplomatic efforts for Rana's extradition to India.

In a detailed statement on X, the senior Congress leader on Thursday accused the current BJP-led NDA government of attempting to take credit for what he described as a "culmination of institutional diplomacy, legal groundwork, and international cooperation set in motion in 2009."

Tahawwur Rana, a Canadian citizen is expected to land in Delhi around 7 pm today, after a prolonged legal battle in the US. The process began in November 2009, when the National Investigation Agency (NIA) registered a case against Rana, David Coleman Headley, and others in connection with the 26/11 conspiracy.

The same year, the FBI had arrested Rana in Chicago for aiding a failed Lashkar-e-Taiba plot in Copenhagen. Though acquitted of direct involvement in the Mumbai attacks, Rana was convicted on other terror-related charges and sentenced to 14 years in prison.

“This extradition is not the result of any grandstanding,” Chidambaram said, calling it “a testament to what the Indian state can achieve when diplomacy, law enforcement, and international cooperation are pursued sincerely and without chest-thumping."

Chidambaram highlighted the institutional approach followed by the UPA through diplomatic channels and legal mechanisms. Evidence provided by US authorities under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) led to the filing of the NIA chargesheet in 2011, followed by non-bailable warrants and Interpol red notices.

In 2012, then External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai raised Rana’s and Headley’s extradition with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other American officials. Though India’s extradition request for Headley was denied in 2013 after his sentencing to 35 years, the UPA government remained diplomatically engaged, Chidambaram said in his statement.

Following a change of government in 2014, Chidambaram said it was the ongoing institutional momentum that kept the case alive. "In 2015, Headley agreed to turn approver in the 26/11 case. In 2016, a Mumbai court pardoned him on the condition of full cooperation, which helped the case against Zabiuddin Ansari (Abu Jundal). A team visited the US in December 2018 to resolve legal hurdles and again in January 2019 was told that Rana must serve his full sentence in the US. His release date was set for 2023, accounting for time served. These are not "strong leader" moments, but are the slow wheels of justice, pushed forward by years of hard work," the statement read.