ISLAMABAD: Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh arrived in the capital on Wednesday to take part in the Saarc interior ministers’ conference scheduled to be held on Thursday (today).

His arrival marks the first visit to Pakistan by any high-level Indian official after the surprise trip by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Pakistan in December last year.

The visit comes at a time when Pakistan is actively trying to draw the world’s attention to the human rights violations being committed in India-held Kashmir.

No bilateral meeting between the Indian home minister and his Pakistani counterpart, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, is scheduled on the sidelines of the ministerial conference.

But Kashmiri activists, religious parties and civil society have been up in arms over Mr Singh’s visit as Wednesday saw a number of protests around the capital.

Interior secretaries meet to finalise proposals ahead of ministerial conference

Also on Wednesday, interior secretaries from Saarc (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) member states met to review progress on areas of cooperation and finalise recommendations and proposals regarding mutual cooperation to overcome the challenges facing the region. These suggestions will be placed before the interior ministers for their consideration.

As per the Saarc practice, Interior Secretary Arif Ahmed Khan was elected chairman of the seventh meeting of Saarc interior secretaries. Speaking on the occasion, he stressed the need for member states to collectively respond to shared challenges and use the Saarc platform to share and benefit from each other’s wisdom and experience.

He said the Saarc conference’s mandate covered a range of important issues related to terrorism, corruption, narcotics and psychotropic substances, maritime piracy and other similar issues.

Mr Khan said the meeting would also be discussing the conventions on ‘Suppression of Terrorism’ and the ‘Additional Protocol and Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters’.

Meanwhile, protests, demonstrations and rallies held across the twin cities marred the arrival of the Indian minister.

The first rally was organised by the All Parties Hurriyat Conference at Faizabad. Syed Salahuddin, leader of Hizbul Mujahideen, also participated in the rally along with other Kashmiri leaders.

A token hunger strike was observed outside the National Press Club by Mishaal Malik, wife of militant-turned-political activist Yasin Malik. A number of protests were also held outside a hotel located near the Diplomatic Enclave, where the Indian home minister is supposed to be staying. 

Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2016