India will closely monitor the Hafiz case: Krishna

New Delhi, July 6 (PTI) India on Monday termed as
"internal matter" the Pakistan Supreme Court rejecting
petitions challenging the release of Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD)
chief Hafiz Saeed, a key accused in Mumbai terror attack, but
said it will closely monitor the case.

"I think that is an internal matter of Pakistan and
specially when courts are involved, normally we do not comment
on those developments. But we are closely monitoring the
events in Pakistan," India's External Affairs Minister S M
Krishna told reporters who sought his reaction on the issue.

Earlier in the day, the Pakistan Supreme Court
rejected on technical grounds the petitions filed by the
federal and Punjab governments challenging the release of
Saeed from house arrest, after which authorities there
announced will file fresh pleas removing the flaws.

Asked whether India was satisfied that Pakistan
government has appealed against Saeed's release, Krishna only
said terror should not be fought on selective basis.

"All that India would be interested in is-- we would
like to have friendly relationship with Pakistan but the only
obstacle for that is the attack on Mumbai... you cannot fight
terror on selective basis. Terror has to be fought across the
board and I think that is India's stand," he said.

India's Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon said the
situation is very unclear on Hafiz's case in terms of whether
or not his release has been challenged by the Pakistan
government.

Asked about the release of Sarabjit Singh, who has
been given death sentence for his alleged involvement in four
bomb blasts in 1990 in Pakistan, Krishna said the government
has said his case should be considered on "humanitarian
ground".

The External Affairs Minister of India was speaking to
reporters after launching a website of the G5 countries.

"This is an important and timely initiative, coming
just days days before the G5 Summit and will showcase the
achievements of the interaction of our five countries over the
last couple of years," he said launching the website.

The External Affairs Minister said the the G5
countries have emerged as a "cohesive group of five major
developing economies with considerable influence over today's
pressing global issues".

Observing that there is an urgent need for the reform
of international financial institutions to ensure sustainable
recovery from the current economic crisis and also to prevent
recurrence of such crises in future, he said the G5 countries
should work hand-in-hand towards this goal.

"Through our coordination in the context of the reform
of global institutions be it the UN, IMF, World Bank or FAO,
we can present the perspectives of the developing countries at
various international fora and effectively voice their
concerns," he said. PTI MPB
RAI