Washington DC:

In a big announcement after his bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Donald Trump said that United States has agreed to extradite 2008 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana to India. The key accused in the 26/11 terror attack is currently at a high-security prison in the United States and India has been seeking his extradition for years.

“We are handing over a very dangerous man to India, one who is accused of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack,” President Trump said.

As recently as January 21, 2025, the US Supreme Court rejected Tahawwur Rana’s review petition paving way for his extradition to India. “In view of the recent Supreme Court decision, and consistent with applicable US law, the Department of State is currently evaluating next steps in this case,” the US State Department had said.

“We have long supported India’s efforts to ensure the perpetrators of the Mumbai terrorist attacks face justice,” the statement added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi appreciated the US’s stand to extradite the terror accused and thanked President Trump to confirm his extradition. “A perpetrator of the Mumbai terror attack is being extradited for his interrogation and trial in India. I thank President Trump for expediting the process.”

Pakistani origin businessman Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who was convicted for his role in the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai that resulted in the death of 164 people, will now be interrogated by Indian agencies and face trial in India.

Rana’s co-conspirators included, among others, David Headley. Headley pleaded guilty and cooperated against Rana.

Rana was previously prosecuted in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The second superseding indictment charged him in three counts. The jury convicted him on Count 11 (conspiracy to provide material support to terrorism in Denmark). The jury also convicted Rana on Count 12 (providing material support to Lashkar-e-Taiba).

174 people, including 20 security force personnel and 26 foreigners, were killed and over 300 were injured in the horrific terror attack that took place at Mumbai’s iconic Taj Mahal Hotel on November 26, 2008.
 

New Delhi:

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar today said India is no longer what it used to be on the issue of defending herself.

At NDTV ‘Indian of the Year Awards 2024’, Mr Jaishankar recalled how the then government did not respond after the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai in 2008.

“In the past, India left 26/11 unanswered. We have answered Pakistan with Uri and Balakot strikes,” Mr Jaishankar said.

India had launched a surgical strike using its special forces on terror camps deep inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), following an attack by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) at a military base in Jammu and Kashmir’s Uri that killed 19 Indian soldiers.

The Indian special forces destroyed several terror launch pads in the surgical strike in September 2016.

The airstrike in Pakistan’s Balakot happened in retaliation after a JeM terrorist’s suicide bomb attack on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy killed 40 soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama in February 2019.

The 26/11 attacks were a series of coordinated terrorist strikes by 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists from Pakistan, who targeted key locations in Mumbai, including the Taj Hotel, Oberoi Trident Hotel, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Leopold Cafe, Nariman House, Cama Hospital, and Metro Cinema.

Over three days of terror, 166 people including 20 security personnel and 26 foreigners were killed, while more than 300 were injured.

Following the 26/11 attacks, the Defence Ministry has said coastal security has been reviewed at appropriate levels and the Indian Navy has been designated as the authority responsible for overall maritime security, which includes coastal security and offshore security.

The Indian Navy, in this regard, is assisted by the Coast Guard, State Marine Police, and other central and state agencies for coastal defence of the nation.