“Gimmicks, phoney announcements…Pakistan must take concrete action”: MEA on Pak reward for arrest of Masood Azhar  

New Delhi [India], September 15 (ANI): India on Tuesday asked Pakistan to take concrete action against terrorists operating from its soil rather than make announcements “that are ultimately of no consequence” and said a reward of Rs 7 million for the arrest of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar was among “phoney announcements” by the state-sponsor of terrorism.

Responding to queries on Masood Azhar again figuring in Pakistan Federal Investigation Agency’s Red Book and a reward announced for his arrest, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said “such gimmicks and attempts at hoodwinking people by Pakistan are nothing new”.

“We have seen similar gimmicks in the past as well. For a state sponsor of terrorism to make such phoney announcements—we all know how hollow they are. Pakistan must take concrete action rather than make announcements that are ultimately of no consequence," he said.

Pakistan's Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) has released a list of most wanted terrorists for 2026. One of terrorists in the Red book is Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) Chief Masood Azhar and carries a bounty of PKR 70 Lakh.

The move comes ahead of the upcoming Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary in October, as Pakistan seeks to avoid falling back onto the grey list.

To evade action and deceive the international community, Pakistan began claiming in 2021 that Azhar was no longer on its soil but had fled to Afghanistan, while the FIA initially placed a PKR 50 lakh reward on him that same year. Five years later, the bounty was hiked to PKR 70 lakh. Azhar is the mastermind behind several terror strikes in India.

Sources said that despite Pakistan’s persistent narrative since 2021 that Azhar is hiding in Afghanistan, technical analysis by Indian intelligence agencies had revealed that he is actively hiding in Nawabshah city within Pakistan’s Sindh province. (ANI)

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