LONDON: Pakistan has refused to accept the return of Shabir Ahmed, a convicted member of the Rochdale grooming gang, Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar has said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The issue of Shabir Ahmed\u2019s return to Pakistan was raised by the British Foreign Secretary during a meeting with Ishaq Dar, who is currently in London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Responding to the British request, Ishaq Dar said that there is no agreement between Pakistan and the United Kingdom for the transfer or extradition of individuals convicted of sexual offences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shabir Ahmed was convicted in the UK of 30 offences involving the sexual abuse of children. His case has been associated with the wider Rochdale grooming gang scandal, which attracted significant public and political attention in Britain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking to journalists in London, Ishaq Dar said his visit to the United Kingdom had been highly successful and that he held detailed discussions with the British Foreign Secretary on a range of bilateral and international issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the foreign minister, the question of Shabir Ahmed\u2019s return was specifically raised during his meeting with his British counterpart. Dar explained that Pakistan\u2019s position was based on the absence of a formal bilateral agreement covering the transfer or extradition of people convicted of sexual crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The issue highlights the legal and diplomatic complexities involved when one country seeks the return of a convicted individual to another country. Extradition generally depends on applicable treaties, domestic laws and the legal arrangements between the countries concerned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this case, Pakistan has made it clear that it does not have an extradition or prisoner-transfer agreement with Britain that would provide a specific mechanism for returning individuals convicted of sexual offences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shabir Ahmed was among those convicted in connection with child sexual abuse offences in the United Kingdom. His case has remained a sensitive issue because of the seriousness of the crimes and the wider controversy surrounding organised child exploitation in Rochdale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The discussion between the two foreign ministers also covered broader bilateral and international matters, according to Ishaq Dar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Pakistani foreign minister described his overall visit to Britain as highly successful. He said he had held positive discussions with senior British officials and that the meetings focused on issues of mutual interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dar said he also held constructive meetings with the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth and the British National Security Adviser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the foreign minister, British officials appreciated Pakistan\u2019s diplomatic role in efforts aimed at promoting peace and stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He particularly highlighted Pakistan\u2019s diplomatic engagement in relation to the conflict between the United States and Iran. Dar said British officials appreciated the role played by Pakistan, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir in efforts connected with US-Iran mediation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The meetings in London therefore extended beyond the issue of Shabir Ahmed and covered broader questions of regional and international security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pakistan and the United Kingdom maintain longstanding diplomatic, economic and people-to-people ties, with a large Pakistani diaspora living in Britain. As a result, cooperation between the two countries frequently involves issues related to security, migration, law enforcement, trade and consular affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Shabir Ahmed case nevertheless presents a particularly sensitive issue because it involves serious sexual offences against children. The British authorities\u2019 request for his return has been met with Pakistan\u2019s legal position that there is no relevant agreement permitting such a transfer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The absence of an extradition arrangement does not necessarily prevent countries from cooperating on criminal matters, but any action must be consistent with the legal frameworks applicable in both countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ishaq Dar\u2019s comments indicate that Pakistan currently does not intend to accept Shabir Ahmed\u2019s return under the circumstances presented by the British side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The case is also likely to remain politically sensitive in Britain because of the history of the Rochdale grooming gang investigations and convictions. The scandal involved the sexual exploitation of vulnerable young girls and prompted extensive debate about law enforcement, safeguarding and institutional failures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Pakistan, the matter is being handled primarily as a legal and diplomatic issue. The foreign minister\u2019s response was based on the absence of a bilateral agreement covering the extradition or transfer of people convicted of sexual offences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, Dar\u2019s remarks about his London meetings suggest that the two countries also discussed a range of issues beyond the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Pakistani foreign minister said British officials recognised Pakistan\u2019s diplomatic contribution to peace efforts and appreciated the role of Pakistan\u2019s leadership in international mediation initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The visit comes at a time when Pakistan has sought to strengthen its diplomatic engagement on regional and international conflicts while maintaining close relations with major Western countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dar\u2019s meetings with British officials provided an opportunity to discuss Pakistan\u2019s foreign policy priorities, security concerns and potential areas of cooperation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the refusal to accept Shabir Ahmed remains one of the notable outcomes of the discussions. Pakistan\u2019s position is that, in the absence of an agreement between the two countries covering extradition or transfer in sexual offence cases, it cannot accept the British request for his return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The matter demonstrates how criminal cases involving individuals with links to more than one country can create complicated legal and diplomatic questions, particularly when the crimes are serious and public interest is high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For now, Pakistan has maintained its position, while broader diplomatic engagement between Islamabad and London continues on security, peace efforts and other areas of mutual interest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON: Pakistan has refused to accept the return of Shabir Ahmed, a convicted member of the Rochdale grooming gang, Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13021,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/11111-2026-08-29T143536.056.png",800,927,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/11111-2026-08-29T143536.056-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/11111-2026-08-29T143536.056-259x300.png",259,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/11111-2026-08-29T143536.056-768x890.png",768,890,true],"large":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/11111-2026-08-29T143536.056.png",800,927,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/11111-2026-08-29T143536.056.png",800,927,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/11111-2026-08-29T143536.056.png",800,927,false]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Pakistan<\/a>","tag_info":"Pakistan","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13019"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13022,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13019\/revisions\/13022"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}