India had summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit to convey its outrage after the Islamabad High Court ordered Lakhvi's release
Pakistan's Foreign Office today summoned India's Deputy High Commissioner to Pakistan JP Singh over what it claims is 'unnecessary hype' created over a court order to release Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the man accused of plotting the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Sources said that Pakistan's Foreign Office told Mr Singh that India should not interfere in their judicial process.
The Pakistani side also raised the 2007 Samjhauta train blast case, in which 68 people including several Pakistani nationals were killed, contending that there was undue delay in the trial, sources said.
Mr Singh, in turn, reiterated India's concern over the release order, sources said.
Earlier in the day, India had summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit to convey its outrage after the Islamabad High Court ordered Lakhvi's release.
"He may have been granted bail but as you know the trial continues, we are all working to complete the trial. Let the judicial process take its course," Mr Basit said after the meeting.
India said it is Pakistan's responsibility to take all legal measures to ensure that he doesn't come out of jail.
"If such a person, who is also a designated international terrorist by the United Nations, is released it will pose a threat that cannot be ignored," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said.
Meanwhile, the prison officials in Pakistan's Rawalpindi, where Lakhvi is imprisoned, refused to release him. "We told Lakhvi's counsel that we cannot release him on the Islamabad High Court order received through fax," said an official at the Adiala Jail. "We told him (Lakhvi's counsel) to bring the certified copy of the court's order," he said.
Lakhvi, a top commander of the banned terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, has been in jail since 2009 over the attacks in Mumbai a year before, in which 166 people were killed. He is one of seven people on trial in Pakistan for the siege of Mumbai. India has repeatedly warned Pakistan that the glacial pace of the trial is unacceptable and undermines Pakistan's stated position on checking terrorism.
Indian investigators have submitted voice samples and other evidence that reveal Lakhvi talking on satellite phones to the 10 terrorists who sailed into Mumbai and attacked its most famous landmarks.