Pakistan on Sunday denied it had stopped Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria from visiting a famous Sikh shrine in the city of Hasan Abdal, 40 km from Islamabad, the day before. Bisaria had claimed that he had the required permissions to visit Gurdwara Panja Sahib.
Islamabad responded a day after India summoned Pakistan’s Deputy High Commissioner in New Delhi Syed Haider Shah and lodged a protest. “Indian organisers, Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, when contacted, have expressed grave concern and dismay at the incident despite the visiting pilgrims from India having asked Pakistan organisers to facilitate a meeting with Indian high commissioner and High Commission officials,” the Ministry of External Affairs said.
The ministry said that Pakistan’s actions were in violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961, and the 1974 bilateral Protocol on visit to religious shrines.
Pakistan Foreign Office Spokesperson Mohammad Faisal, however, claimed that the Sikh pilgrims, who are visiting the shrine to mark the the death anniversary of Raja Ranjit Singh, had protested against their alleged mistreatment in India and the release of controversial movies. Bisaria agreed to cancel his trip because of the pilgrims’ sentiments, he added.
The Ministry of External Affair claimed that this was the second consecutive time that Pakistan had denied consular access to visiting pilgrims. In April, Indian consular officials were not allowed to meet Sikh pilgrims who had arrived in Pakistan to celebrate Baisakhi.
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