Pakistan calls back high commissioner in India for consultations

Published February 18, 2019
Pakistan has called back its high commissioner in India for consultations, says FO. — File
Pakistan has called back its high commissioner in India for consultations, says FO. — File

Pakistan has called back its high commissioner in India for consultations, announced Dr Mohammad Faisal, the spokesperson of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Monday.

"He left New Delhi this morning," said Dr Faisal in a tweet.

Following the militant attack in India-occupied Kashmir’s Pulwama area last week, tensions between India and Pakistan are once again running high.

Over 40 Indian paramilitary troops were killed in the attack, which has been claimed by the Jaish-e-Mohammad, a proscribed organisation. India has alleged that those who planned the attacks had links with the Pakistani state — a charge that Pakistan has vigorously denied. Shortly after the attack, the Pakistan Foreign Office had condemned the attack, saying that it was “a matter of grave concern”.

Read: Pakistan asks India to share evidence, pledges cooperation

Earlier on Monday, Finance Minister Asad Umar urged India to "listen to the people of Kashmir".

"It [India] must realise that the more they try and repress the people of Kashmir through violence, the more determined Kashmiris become to break free from the subjugation by India," he said on Twitter. "No amount of scapegoating Pakistan will change that reality."

Kashmiris have been facing a backlash in India, mainly in the northern states of Haryana and Uttarakhand, forcing the interior ministry to issue an advisory to all states to “ensure their safety and security and maintain communal harmony”.

Local media reported that some Kashmiri students were assaulted by members of Hindu rightwing groups in Uttarakhand, while a Kashmiri man had been booked by police in the southern city of Bengaluru under a colonial-era sedition law for a post allegedly backing the Kashmiri fighters. The reports could not be verified independently.

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