India has asked Pak to ensure minority communities’ security: MEA on Sikh girl’s abduction

New Delhi, September 24

India lodged a strong protest with Pakistan over the abduction of a Sikh girl in that country and has conveyed to Islamabad that it should take all steps for ensuring the security of minority communities, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said there was a lot of anger and concern among the Sikh community over the abduction of the Sikh girl in Pakistan and the community had made a representation to the ministry over the issue.

“The ministry lodged a strong protest by summoning a senior (Pakistani) diplomat and gave a note verbale. This is not the first incident and such incidents have happened in the past as well,” Srivastava said.

“There are some reports that the girl has been released. We have told the Pakistan government that they should take all steps for ensuring the security of the minority communities,” he said at an online briefing.

According to reports, the Sikh girl was abducted from Panja Sahib region of Punjab province recently.

Last month also, India raised with Pakistan the incident of a Sikh girl being forcibly converted to Islam in Punjab province.

To another question about India’s charge d’affaires-designate not being granted visa by Pakistan, Srivastava said the Pakistani side had some reservations about India’s CDA-designate, and added that this was an “administrative issue” which the ministry was handling.

On the Kulbhushan Jadhav case, Srivastava said all efforts were being made to ensure his safe return to India.

Asked about Turkey raising Kashmir at the UN, Srivastava said, “You would have seen the right of reply exercised by our Permanent Mission in New York where we have stated inter alia that the remarks of the President of Republic of Turkey on the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir constitute a gross interference in India’s internal affairs and are completely unacceptable.”

“Turkey should learn to respect the sovereignty of other nations and reflect on its own policies more deeply,” Srivastava said. PTI