Mumbai, May 18 (IANS): The Maharashtra government on Thursday welcomed a US court decision that will clear the decks for the extradition of Pakistani-Canadian businessman and 26/11, 2008 Mumbai terror attack accused Dr Tahawwur Hussain Rana.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that this re-affirms India's stance that Pakistan had played a role in the 26/11 terror strikes

"Everybody was aware that Pakistan had a hand behind the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai. Now, with Rana's extradition to India, it will help legally establish Pakistan's role behind those attacks," he said.

This was possible with the deposition of David Coleman Headley which had thrown light on various aspects of the planning and conspiracy and also provided crucial evidence indicating Pakistan's role.

Headley had made six trips to Mumbai, five prior to the 26/11 terror attacks and one later, while Rana had come here thrice before the strikes.

Fadnavis added that it was the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that took the initiative in these cases and had made representations to the US authorities in the matter.

Ace lawyer Ujjwal Nikam, the Special Public Prosecutor in the 26/11 trial, also lauded the development as a "big success for India's efforts".

A Pakistani-Canadian origin resident of Chicago, Rana, 62, is an immigration services consultant and a former army physician who was nabbed for plotting the attacks on the Danish newspaper "Jyllands-Posten" and is currently serving a 14-year jail term.

In her May 16 order, US Federal Court Magistrate Judge in California, Jacqueline Choolijian has allowed the extradition of Rana to India under the Indo-US Extradition Treaty, to face the laws here for his involvement in the 26/11 mayhem, which killed 166 civilians and 9 of the terrorists, while the lone terrorist nabbed alive, Ajmal Kasab underwent a full trial and was hanged on November 21, 2012.

Rana was convicted by a Chicago court in 2011 for providing support to the terror outfit operating from Pakistan, the Lashkar-e-Taiba, which had masterminded the 26/11 2008 strikes, along with Headley, currently serving a 35-year jail term.

Judge Choolijian's order said that after reviewing all the relevant documents and arguments submitted during the hearings in the court, it certified Rana's extraditability to India on the charges against him.

India had filed a plea in June 2020 seeking Rana's provisional arrest prior to extradition, and the judge's order comes ahead of PM Modi's scheduled state visit to US on June 22.