India, UAE may sign extradition treaty

India and the United Arab Emirates are likely to sign an extradition treaty and two other related agreements by the year-end, Minister of State for External Affairs Saleem Shervani said in Abu Dhabi.

The three agreements, including one on co-operation in judicial and juridical matters and another on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, came up for discussion at a meeting that Shervani had with his counterpart in the UAE, Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed al Nahyan, on Saturday. Shervani also met UAE President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan later on Sunday.

' 'We have decided to sign the treaty when Sheikh Hamdan visits India for the next session of the Indo-UAE joint commission,'' Shervani said.

Sheikh Hamdan had indicated separately to WAM, the official Emirates news agency, that the meeting would take place before the year-end.

India attaches great importance to the extradition treaty with the UAE because it has been seeking the repatriation of several people from Dubai, including those wanted in connection with the Bombay bomb blasts and other serious cases. Dubai was once the refuge of gangster Dawood Ibrahim, who later moved to Pakistan, Abu Salem, who has been implicated in the attempt to murder director Rajiv Rai, and alleged drug smuggler Vicky Goswami.

Shervani said India had submitted the final draft of the agreements, which have been under discussion between the two countries for some years now, to the UAE on August 13. He said a team from the UAE would visit India before the meeting of the joint commission to iron out the details.

The minister pointed out that India had recently signed an extradition treaty with the United States and would like such agreements with more countries, including the Gulf states.

''All countries of the world must send out a strong signal that they are united in the global fight against terrorism, drug trafficking and organised crime,'' he said. India is already negotiating extradition treaties with various countries in this region, including Bahrain and Oman.