‘We’ve Seen Such Gimmicks Before’: India Dismisses Pakistan’s Masood Azhar Reward Hike

The Indian government on Tuesday dismissed Pakistan’s decision to increase the reward for information leading to the arrest of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as a “gimmick”, questioning Islamabad’s intent behind the move.

Addressing a regular media briefing, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said such announcements by Pakistan were not new and accused the country of attempting to “hoodwink” people.

Jaiswal said Pakistan should take concrete action instead of making what he described as “phoney announcements” that have no meaningful consequence.

Pak's PKR 70 lakh bounty on Azhar

Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency has reportedly increased the reward for Azhar to PKR 70 lakh (around Rs 24 lakh), up from PKR 50 lakh. He has been listed as a fugitive in the FIA’s 2026 Red Book of most-wanted high-profile terrorists. A reward was first announced for him in 2021.

Azhar was designated a global terrorist by the United Nations Security Council in 2019. The US has also announced a $10 million reward for information leading to his capture.

The development comes ahead of the Financial Action Task Force’s October plenary, with Pakistan facing scrutiny over action against UN-designated terrorists.

Pakistan has maintained that Azhar is not in the country and had crossed into Afghanistan, a claim rejected by India.

Azhar founded JeM after being released from an Indian jail in 1999 in exchange for passengers of hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC-814. The group has been blamed for several major terror attacks in India.