India has firmly dismissed Pakistan’s latest offer to reward individuals who provide information leading to the arrest of Masood Azhar, branding the move as nothing more than empty political showmanship. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs and security agencies view Islamabad’s bounty announcement with deep skepticism, arguing it amounts to little more than a public relations exercise that fails to mask years of inaction.
Masood Azhar, the founder and supremo of the Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), remains one of India’s most wanted terrorists. He is implicated in several major attacks on Indian soil, including the December 2001 Parliament attack, the 2008 Mumbai terror strikes, and the Pulwama attack of February 2019 that claimed the lives of 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel. Despite repeated international pressure and numerous UN-designated terrorism pleas by New Delhi, Azhar has never been brought to justice and continues to operate freely from Pakistani territory.
Diplomatic sources in New Delhi indicated that while India appreciates any verbal commitment from Islamabad toward counter-terrorism cooperation, mere offers of monetary rewards without concrete follow-through carry no weight. Indian officials stress that Pakistan has the legal and operational capacity to arrest Azhar at any time but has consistently chosen inaction. The bounty announcement, they argued, is aimed at projecting an image of toughness to its domestic audience and the international community rather than delivering tangible results.
International observers have also noted the pattern. For over two decades, Azhar has remained a free man despite being wanted by India and designated as a global terrorist by the United Nations since 2008. Multiple resolutions at the UN Security Council, led by India, have called for his prosecution, yet Pakistan has never complied. Analysts say that until actual enforcement action is taken — arrests, prosecutions, and convictions — financial rewards remain symbolic at best.
New Delhi has repeatedly urged the international community to hold Pakistan accountable for harboring terrorists operating from its soil. The current dismissal of the bounty comes amid a broader reassessment of India-Pakistan counter-terrorism dynamics, with India increasingly taking its concerns directly to multilateral forums and bilateral engagements beyond the Pakistani capital.
