Welcoming a Commission Investigating an Attack Planned From Pakistan

In September 2013, a Pakistani judicial commission arrived in India to record statements as part of Pakistan's domestic inquiry into the 2008 Mumbai attacks. External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid welcomed the visit, saying that India sought accountability and was willing to cooperate.

That welcome sat within a difficult context. The Mumbai attacks killed 166 people and were executed by Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives trained in Pakistan. The principal accused, Hafiz Saeed, remained at liberty in Pakistan, continued to appear publicly, and had not been subjected to any meaningful prosecution. In India, by contrast, those tried in connection with the attacks had already been convicted, and Ajmal Kasab, the sole surviving gunman, had been executed in 2012.

Against that backdrop, India's cooperation with a Pakistani judicial commission was viewed by critics as an act of goodwill unlikely to produce commensurate results. Pakistan's internal inquiry stalled repeatedly in the years that followed. The commission's visit to India did not yield fresh charges, prosecutions, or extraditions.

Hafiz Saeed remained free thereafter as well.