Pakistan should turn over the individual involved in the Mumbai terror attack to India or to the International Criminal Court in The Hague where he will be tried for crimes against humanity and terrorism, Ed Royce, Chairman of the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said on Tuesday.

“The voice we hear on the documentary done about that attack is the same voice…. the same individual today who is taking visitors (in a Pakistan prison) and has not been brought to the court of justice,” said Royce.

He pointed out that not only had he stayed in that hotel several times but that he even had a chance to go back after the Mumbai attack. Royce was speaking to the media at an event organised by the Vivekananda International Foundation. There have been media reports that the Lashkar-e-Taiba operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi is living in luxury in a jail in Rawalpindi, receiving scores of visitors every day. The Congressman was of the opinion that the actions of the new civilian Government in Pakistan are different from the actions of some the institutions in the military in Pakistan, particularly the ISI. “We are looking at ways to strengthen the civilian military that represents the people of Pakistan,” Royce said.

During a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Royce brought up the issue of closer cooperation between the two Governments in India and America and the issue of bringing to India the leadership in US intelligence agencies and Home Land Security.

“I think it needs to be at the highest level. And the reason it has to be at the highest level is because what is happening with the evolution of the internet. This brings new challenges in terms of the entire region,” he added.

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