 "Rising Bharat Summit 2025: Amit Shah hails Tahawwur Rana extradition as Modi govt’s 'big diplomatic success'")
Indian Home Minister Amit Shah has hailed the impending extradition of 26/11 Mumbai attacks accused Tahawwur Rana from the United States as a major diplomatic triumph for the Narendra Modi government.
Speaking at the News18’s flagship Rising Bharat Summit 2025 on Wednesday (April 9), Shah described Rana’s extradition as a “big diplomatic success”, while making a pointed comparison to the UPA government led by the Congress during whose tenure the 2008 attacks occurred.
“Those under whose regime these attacks happened failed to bring the perpetrators back and deliver justice,” Shah said in conversation with Network18 Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi. “But we remain committed to doing so.”
Long road to extradition
Rana, a Pakistani-Canadian businessman, is accused of playing a key role in facilitating the 2008 attacks in Mumbai that left 166 people dead, including foreign nationals and security personnel.
He is alleged to have assisted co-conspirator David Coleman Headley in conducting surveillance of key targets in Mumbai, including the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and the Chabad House Jewish Centre, which were later attacked by the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Rana reportedly used his immigration services company as a front to enable Headley— an American citizen of Pakistani origin— to pose as a legitimate US businessman while gathering intelligence in India ahead of the assault.
After years of legal proceedings in the US, including resistance from his defence team, American courts approved Rana’s extradition, concluding that there was sufficient evidence to establish his role in the Mumbai plot.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsShah framed the success as part of a broader push by the government to pursue those “who have misused India’s land, disrespected its honour and mistreated Indian citizens”, promising they would be tried under Indian law.
Rana’s return is one of the most high-profile extraditions to India in recent years.
A grim legacy
The 26/11 attacks unfolded over nearly three days, starting on the evening of November 26, 2008. Ten heavily armed militants arrived by sea and launched coordinated strikes across Mumbai, including at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station, the Taj Hotel, the Oberoi-Trident Hotel, and the Jewish Chabad House.
The attackers, directed in real-time from handlers in Pakistan, unleashed mayhem that killed 166 people and wounded hundreds more. Among the dead were hotel staff, commuters, tourists, and police officers. The siege was watched in horror across the world, and it marked a turning point in global perceptions of Pakistan-based militant groups.
Ajmal Kasab, the only surviving gunman, was captured, tried, and executed in India. Headley, who testified in court in the US and later via video to Indian investigators, was sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2013 and is serving time in the US.
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
