26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed calls India 'number one enemy'

Hafiz Saeed, mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and Jamaat-ud-Dawa's (JuD) chief has once again made an anti-India call at a rally in Pakistan.

According to reports, speaking at a rally in Peshawar, which was attended by MPs of Nawaz Sharif's ruling PML(N)​, Saeed called India 'the number one enemy'.

Interestingly, Saeed's statement comes on the day when Chinese President Xi Xinping is on a two-day visit to Pakistan. On Sunday, Xi had said that his first trip to Pakistan is like visiting the home of his 'own brother' as he vowed to firm up China's strategic ties with its all-weather friend.

Amid growing tensions in Jammu and Kashmir, Saeed has pledged full support to Kashmiri separatists and said he backed 'jihad' in the state in concert with Pakistani government and the army.

Also read: 'Secular' India unable to bear informal meeting with a journalist, tweets 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed

Speaking to Pakistan's Channel 24, Saeed had said, “There are lakhs of people in Kashmir who are demanding freedom. If the Indian government resorts to firing then we will also retaliate in a strong manner. We support Pakistan, Pakistan government and Pakistan Army in their effort to help the people of Kashmir who don't have freedom. And we call it jihad,” said Saeed whose organisation has been formally banned in Pakistan. 

Saeed is among the top in the India's most wanted list of terrorists as well as listed in the NIA's wanted list. He is the chief of  Pakistan-based terror outfit Jama'at-ud-Da'wah (JuD).

Saeed is also alleged to have strong tie's with Lashkar-e-Taiba that is known to have been behind several terror attacks in India. including the simultaneous attacks in Mumbai in 2007.

His organisation mainly operates from Pakistan and is banned as a terrorist organisation by India and several other nations.