Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed said Pakistan cannot bring back Nawaz Sharif or Ishaq Dar from the United Kingdom (UK) as it has no bilateral extradition treaty with them.
“We could not even bring Ishaq Dar back. Only God can bring Nawaz Sharif back,” the Interior Minister said in a presser on Friday.
The statement by the Sheikh Rasheed dashes hopes in government circles that the absconding Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) leaders could be legally brought back to the country.
The government’s efforts to bring back absconding politicians in the UK hinged on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the British government to bring back former Finance Minister in June 2019; with the Special Assistant on Accountability Shehzad Akbar saying at the occasion that “Ishaq Dar will be extradited to Pakistan soon.”
In July, the then Railways Minister had said “Hassan and Hussain Nawaz will not return, only Ishaq Dar will be extradited, it could happen before my next presser, which is scheduled in two weeks”
However, later in 2019, while addressing a joint press conference with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said “let me say it straightforward, UK will never sign any treaty allowing for politically motivated extradition.”
Following this point blank refusal, Pakistani authorities have not managed to make any significant headway in securing an extradition treaty.
