New Delhi, Apr 10 (ANI): National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrests Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the key conspirator in the deadly 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, immediately after his arrival at IGIA , following his successful extradition from the United States, in New Delhi on Thursday. (ANI Photo)
| Photo Credit: ANI
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Tahawwur Hussain Rana and David Coleman Headley (born Daood Syed Gilani), his old school-mate from the Hasan Abdal Cadet College in Pakistan’s Punjab, first discussed the plot to carry out a largescale terror attack in India in August 2005, according to U.S. prosecutors. Rana, a businessman with a Canadian passport who ran a travel and immigration consultancy and butchery in Chicago, provided Headley with support including a place to stay and false travel documents for travel. Headley’s mission was to conduct reconnaissance surveys in Indian cities for Lashkar-e-Toiba for the future attack.
Last week, 16 years after the National Investigation Agency filed an FIR and a chargesheet against Headley and Rana, following their arrest by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Rana was extradited to India from the U.S. Rana will now face trial in India for his role in the November 26, 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which 175 people, including nine attackers, were killed.
Rana had earlier served in the Pakistani army. He left for Canada in 1997. Years later, he would reunite with Headley, his former schoolmate, in Chicago. “While Rana has consistently denied being anything but a pawn in Headley’s plans, some investigators have questioned whether Rana was in fact Headley’s ‘handler’, and had been sent to Canada early to serve the ISI’s objectives by building a ‘cover’,” my colleague Suhasini Haidar writes in this Profile of Rana. Indian prosecutors who secured his conviction in absentia in 2011 argued that there was undisputable evidence about his role in the attack. “First, Rana’s actions in terms of funding and housing Headley, and helping him get Indian visas and tickets until 2009 as well as building a fake identity for him as a representative of Rana’s travel and immigration agency. In November 2008, days before the attacks, Rana and his wife travelled to Mumbai and other Indian cities. Second, Headley’s testimony, as part of the plea bargain against Rana, clearly states that Rana knew about the 26/11 conspiracy from 2006, and helped Headley carry out his reconnaissance operation willingly, and celebrated the attacks. Third, are the FBI intercepts of Rana’s conversations with Headley, including one particular meeting Rana had with a “co-conspirator” in Dubai in September 2008, when he was told the attacks were imminent,” writes Suhasini in this explainer.
While Rana’s extradition is clearly a victory for Indian prosecutors, there are still unanswered questions such as why the U.S. chose to enter into a plea bargain with Headley, giving him immunity from extradition. “It is hoped that Rana’s trial will turn the spotlight back on Pakistan, and generate enough pressure on it to cooperate in the prosecution of seven LeT terror commanders, including Hafiz Saeed who planned, trained and equipped the terrorists for the attacks. To that end, Rana’s extradition is a significant step in the quest for justice and closure for the victims of the 26/11 attacks and their families,” The Hindu wrote in this editorial.
U.S.-China trade war
Last week saw dramatic developments in U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff war against the rest of the world. After his so-called reciprocal tariffs led to a meltdown in stock markets worldwide and rattled America’s bond market and the dollar, Mr. Trump took a step back, announcing a freeze of the tariffs, except a 10% baseline tariff, on some 75 countries that reached out to the U.S. For talks, including India. But Mr. Trump raised tariffs on China to 125% as China had retaliated against his reciprocal tariffs. Mr. Trump had imposed 20% tariffs on China before he announced reciprocal tariffs, which effectively took America’s tariffs on all Chinese goods to 145%, according to administration officials. But within days, China hit back, raising its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods to 125%. “If the United States ignores the interests of the two countries and the international community and insists on fighting tariff wars and trade wars, China will surely fight till the end,” a Chinese Foreign Minisry the spokesperson said on April 8. Mr. Trump had initially said he would not give exemptions to any sector from his tariffs. But on Friday, amid concerns that U.S. consumers will be hit hard by high tariffs by China (Apple produces nearly 80% of its iPhones in China), the Trump administration exempted smartphones, computers and some other electronic devices from “reciprocal” tariffs, including the 125% levies imposed on Chinese imports. While Mr. Trump appears to have blinked first, the economic war between the world’s two largest economies is far from over.
The Top Five
1. Will Trump’s tariffs bring in a recession?
U.S. President Trump declared on April 2 that the U.S. would henceforth be charging a minimum of 10% tariff on all its imports. While the markets recoiled with horror at the scale of the tariff increases, China has vowed to ‘fight till the end’ in what may turn out to be a prolonged and bitter trade war, writes Jayan Jose Thomas.
2. Iran’s nuclear programme | An atomic tug of war
Iran, which has come under increasing pressure since the start of the Gaza war, has taken up the offer for talks put forth by U.S. President Donald Trump, who has threatened military action in combination with Israel if those discussions were to fail, write Vasudevan Mukunth and Stanly Johny.
3. Peter Navarro | Trump’s tariff czar
The President’s adviser is acknowledged as the brain behind the Trump administration’s weaponisation of tariffs, which has set the country on a collision course with China, writes G. Sampah.
4. The Beijing India Report as milestone and opportunity
The report has an inadequate ‘climate-gender’ connection, which must be rectified with policy and ground-level changes, writes Neeraja Kudrimoti.
5. Understanding India’s China conundrum
In its shadow play with Beijing, New Delhi must also be prepared for all eventualities, writes M K Narayanan.
Published – April 14, 2025 12:46 pm IST