FROM RANA TO CHOKSI, INDIA’S PERSISTENCE PAID OFF

Back-to-back in less than a week, India witnessed two major diplomatic wins... one with the extradition of Tahawwur Rana and the second being the arrest of Mehul Choksi in Beruit. Even as his extradition will take time, Foreign Affairs Expert Robinder Sachdev said the decision to arrest Choksi, albeit provisionally, was a huge welcome move.

- Robin Roy The writer is Senior Journalist and former Managing Editor, First India

Sachdev, while talking to the media said the arrest is a diplomatic win more so because a year back, the government had struck Choksi’s name off its Red Corner Notice Alert.

“Certainly, this is a very welcome development that Mehul Choksi has been ar rested provisionally by the Belgian authorities on In dia’s request. It is a diplo matic victory. It is a vic tory for us and the legal team that has been work ing on this along with a foreign office.”

Meanwhile, the extradi tion of Tahawwur Rana - a key accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks - from the US to India, shows a significant breakthrough for India’s diplomatic efforts and the persistence of probe agencies, as per sources quoted by news agency PTI, Rana’s interrogation would help expose Islamabad’s stand in the entire episode