Pakistan People’s Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari claimed that the Pakistani government is unaware of the whereabouts of UN-designated terrorist and Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar, even as Indian officials continue to demand the extradition of key terror figures involved in cross-border attacks, including the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
In a recent interview with Al-Jazeera, Bhutto said “We have been unable to arrest him (Azhar) or identify him. Given his past with Afghan Jihad context, it is our belief that he is in Afghanistan. If and when the Indian government shares information with us that he is on Pakistani soil we would be more than happy to arrest him.”
“You’re saying that a UN-designated terrorist, you’re not aware of his whereabouts and you expect India to provide you that information,” asked the interviewer.
Bhutto said, “Excuse me, when you have a CT (counter-terrorism) cooperation with any country we provide groups of our concern, they provide groups of their concern. That’s how we managed to thwart attacks here in London, thwart attacks in New York, thwart attacks in Pakistan.”
Referring to Afghanistan, Bhutto added, “As far as Masood Azhar is concerned, if he is in Afghanistan that the West has now handed over to a group that once upon a time they called terrorists and now they call the people in charge of Afghanistan — it's not possible for Pakistan to go and do what all of NATO was unable to do within Afghanistan. There’s no reason for Pakistan to want to see this individual or any individual of concern to be active.”
When the interviewer quoted a New York Times' May 2025 report that said Jamat-ud-Dawa chief Hafeez Saeed is a free man despite brief periods of detention, Bhutto said, "That’s not accurate. That’s factually not correct. That Hafeez Saeed is a free man. He is in the custody of the Pakistani state."
Bhutto was a part of the Pakistani delegation that travelled abroad to brief countries about the India-Pakistan conflict. His remarks come amid tensions following India’s May 6-7 strikes on sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in response to the April 22 Pahalgam attack.
In Bahawalpur, where one such strike took place, crowds gathered on May 7 to mourn those killed, including family members of Masood Azhar.
Azhar himself was present during the burial of his older sister, her husband, his nephew and his nephew's wife, his niece, and five children from his family, according to reports.
India reiterated its demand for the extradition of key terror operatives. On May 20, India’s ambassador to Israel, JP Singh, stated that Operation Sindoor — launched in retaliation to cross-border terrorism — was “paused” and “not over.”
The Indian envoy stressed that Pakistan must hand over top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) leaders including Hafeez Saeed, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, and Sajid Mir. “When the US can hand over the culprits (Tahawwur Rana) , why can’t Pakistan hand them over? They have to simply hand over Hafeez Saeed, Lakhvi, Sajid Mir and things will be over,” Singh said.
He added that despite being named as key planners of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, Lakhvi and Hafeez Saeed continue to remain at large.
Masood Azhar was freed in December 1999 in exchange for hostages during the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC 814.
The hijackers had demanded his release in return for the lives of 176 passengers. Azhar, who was then in Indian custody, was handed over to the Taliban in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
Less than two years later, his group was involved in planning and executing the 2001 Indian Parliament attack — a deadly assault on the heart of Indian democracy.
