NEW DELHI: Pakistan has no reason to complain that its foreign affairs chief Sartaj Aziz wasn’t allowed to visit the Golden Temple in Amritsar yesterday, especially considering so many of his itinerary’s last-minute changes were indeed accommodated, government sources told ANI today.
“India extended conveniences keeping security requirements in view… This was done despite last minute change of programme and advancing of arrival in Amritsar by special flight by more than 12 hrs,” the sources told ANI.
They were referring to Aziz advancing his arrival to India by over 10 hours and arriving on Saturday for the Heart of Asia conference in Amritsar, a day earlier.
Yesterday, sources told TOI that the Punjab police did not allow Aziz to leave the hotel after the Heart of Asia conference due to security reasons. There was some speculation that Aziz wanted to brief the Pakistani media at the Golden Temple.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani visited the Golden Temple on Saturday, and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif visited it yesterday. A senior Punjab cop also told TOI that Aziz’s Indian visa was valid only for 17 hours.
Pakistan’s foreign policy chief was yesterday seen sitting in his hotel lobby along with Pakistan high commissioner to India Abdul Basit, his support staff and security officials.
Pakistan’s The Nation reported today that the parents of Hamid Ansari, a man currently in jail in Pakistan, were waiting for a meeting with Aziz at the Golden Temple. It added that Fauzia Ansari and her husband Nihal had come from Mumbai to Amritsar to request Aziz to release their son from prison, as he already completed his jail term.
Ansari, an IT engineer, had gone to Kabul on November 4, 2012 from where he went to Pakistan, allegedly to meet a girl he had been in touch with via e-mail, The Nation said.
Bureau Report
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