A meeting between Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) leader Saifullah Khalid, who has been designated a global terrorist by the US, and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in Doha, the capital of Qatar, has raised concerns in New Delhi.

Khalid, designated a terrorist by the US Treasury Department in 2018 and currently a leader of the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML), a political front organisation of the LeT, was seen with Meshaal in a video shared on social media on Tuesday by PMML’s media arm.

The video also featured PMML vice-president Faisal Nadeem, who has been designated by the US for his role as the head of LeT in Pakistan's Sindh province, alongside Naji Zaheer as-Sarmi, Meshaal’s representative to Pakistan. According to the video, the LeT leaders met with Meshaal to offer their condolences for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in a suspected Israeli attack in Tehran.

Khalid is known to be a close aide of LeT founder Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks. In 2018, he was designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) by the US Treasury Department, along with PMML's previous incarnation, the Milli Muslim League, for "acting on behalf of LeT."

Khalid also headed LeT's Peshawar headquarters and served on Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD)'s coordination committee for Pakistan's Punjab province, according to the US.

A senior official in one of India’s central intelligence agencies described Pakistan’s decision to permit a US-designated terrorist to travel to Doha to meet a Hamas leader as “interesting.” The official, who requested anonymity, remarked that “such acts automatically expose the double standards of Islamabad.”

“This establishes that LeT, despite being banned on paper, conducts its activities freely in Pakistan in the garb of a political party and is supported by the government there,” this official added.

This is not the first time LeT functionaries have expressed support for Hamas. Last year, a representative of Hamas leader Meshaal shared the stage with Khalid, Nadeem, and other PMML leaders in Karachi, calling for anti-Israel protests.

PMML participated in the February 2024 general elections in Pakistan. Hafiz Saeed's son, Hafiz Talha, contested a constituency in Lahore under the party's banner but was defeated by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed Latif Khosa.

Hafiz Saeed is reportedly imprisoned in Lahore, having been sentenced to a total of 31 years by Pakistan’s anti-terrorism courts on multiple charges related to financing terrorism.

LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), and Hizbul Mujahideen, all supported by Pakistan's security establishment, have recently intensified their activities in Jammu & Kashmir by infiltrating foreign fighters to target security forces and civilians, especially as the Union territory prepares for upcoming elections.

In November last year, Israel designated LeT as a terrorist organisation to mark the 15th anniversary of the Mumbai attacks, which resulted in 166 deaths and 238 injuries.

Dr Sameer Patil, director, Centre for Security, Strategy and Technology at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), said, “Saifullah Khalid’s international travel shows that despite Pakistan’s proclamation about cracking down on terrorist groups and associated terrorists, it is just a cosmetic action. In reality, it has not dented the ability of terror masterminds to operate freely not just within Pakistan, but also continuous activities abroad.”

Image source: India Today Global