Pakistan is demanding the extradition of political dissidents from the UK if Britain wants to secure the deportation of the Rochdale grooming gang ringleader.

A senior Pakistani government official has told The Telegraph that Britain needs to “respect the issues that matter” to Pakistan rather than resort to “arm-twisting” and threats to return Shabir Ahmed, a child rapist, to Pakistan.

Ahmed, 73, was released from prison last week after serving 14 years of a 22-year sentence for 30 child rape offences. He cannot be returned to Pakistan, despite being stripped of his UK citizenship.

He has avoided deportation because the Immigration Act 1971 exempts Commonwealth citizens who came to Britain before 1973 and have lived in the country for at least five years.

Pakistan has refused to take back Ahmed and two other ringleaders of the Rochdale grooming gang because they claim not to be Pakistani, having renounced their citizenship.

However, the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Pakistan was prepared to think “out of the box” and “beyond normal procedures” on what it might agree to pave the way for a possible return of Ahmed to Pakistan.

It is understood that Pakistan has raised concerns with the UK about several dissidents and political activists living in the UK, including two who are subject to formal extradition requests by Pakistan.

Last December it sought the extradition of Shahzad Akbar, a member of former prime minister Imran Khan’s cabinet, and Adil Raja, a Pakistani journalist and ex-military officer, for alleged “fake news” and anti-state propaganda.

Pakistan has also repeatedly asked the UK to hand over Altaf Hussain, the London-based founder of the Muttahida Qaumi opposition movement, who has been living in exile in the UK for three decades.

“There are people using British soil to destabilise Pakistan, in violation of several British laws, but the UK has done absolutely nothing about them,” said the official.

“The UK tells us these miscreants are law-abiding and following UK law. They tell us they have to protect their human rights and free speech. We have shared evidence that they incite hatred, violence and social unrest, but the UK does not listen to us. Why double standards?”

The official suggested UK-Pakistan negotiations over Ahmed, as well as other grooming gang member, had been going on for nearly a year in anticipation of his release.

“Our position is that they [the UK] must listen to us too. Both sides need to apply standards. Pakistan cannot be railroaded into agreeing to terms and conditions that are suitable only to the UK,” he said.

“The UK knows what our demands are. We have made our demands and concerns categorically clear to the UK. Some people in the UK are only playing media games. They are not being honest.”

The official claimed there had been threats in private and in public by the UK to impose visa restrictions on Pakistan and cut overseas aid if Pakistan resisted the return of Ahmed.

“These demands are being made about somebody who is now around 75 and who has spent more than 60 years in your country. How is he our national when he is actually not our national? This is arrogance and a colonial mindset. It is unacceptable to us,” he said.

“We have systems and laws, and the UK Government, as well as politicians, must respect our legal position and the issues that matter to us.”

The official said Pakistan had previously accepted the return of “some convicted grooming gang offenders as a gesture of goodwill”, but claimed British demands had grown since then. Hamid Safi and Mohammed Sajid, two convicted Rochdale groomers, have been deported to Pakistan.

He added: “It is a different Pakistan you are dealing with. Arrogance is not acceptable to us. We do not believe in arm-twisting, and the policy of arm-twisting is not going to yield any results.

“The Pakistan you are dealing with now is not the Pakistan you dealt with a few years ago. It is a very different kind of government, one that will not be blackmailed.”

Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, is considering repealing the sections in the Immigration Act 1971 that prevent the UK from returning Ahmed to Pakistan. The Home Office has said all options are on the table, including emergency legislation.

Ministers have not ruled out visa sanctions, but it is understood it is seen as a “nuclear option” that would only be applied if other diplomatic measures failed.