Islamabad has said that international terrorist Dawood Ibrahim is not on Pakistan soil.
The statement comes two days after India asked Pakistan to deport Dawood.
'He is not here. However, if any proof of his presence in any part of Pakistan is provided, he will be arrested straightaway,' Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao was quoted as saying.
India on Friday asked Pakistan to deport Dawood as well as Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin. It also asked Islamabad to ban Jamat-ud-Dawa, the political organisation of Lashker-e-Tayiba terrorist outfit, and arrest its leaders immediately.
In a statement issued the same day, Pakistan's foreign ministry rejected India's demand.
Without naming Ibrahim or Salahuddin, it claimed the Indian list included 'persons who are not in Pakistan, or some of those who had been associated with the Kashmiri freedom struggle including the chief of a well-known Kashmiri political party that has representation and offices in Jammu and Kashmir' as well as in Europe and US.
Sherpao made his remarks in Karachi where, according to intelligence reports forwarded by India to Interpol, Dawood resided. The underworld don later reportedly moved to Islamabad and changed his personal profile after he was declared a terrorist by the US.
Interpol had issued red corner notices against him at the instance of India.
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