Pakistan lodges protest with India after Iftar guests harassed in New Delhi

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – Pakistan on Monday lodged a strong protest with India after guests attending an Iftar at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi were harassed by Indian security officials. According to the letter, Indian security agencies surrounded the High Commission shortly before Iftar and visitors were subjected to strict security checks. Pictures of the guests were also taken, while Kashmiri-Muslim iftar guests were threatened with arrests. “The same method was applied on an event hosted on March 22,” stated the letter, further condemning “these dirty Indian tactics in the holy month of Ramazan”, while also calling it a violation of the Vienna Convention. Pakistan demanded assurance from India that such incidents will not happen in the future. Earlier on May 8, Indian Deputy Commissioner Gaurav Ahluwalia was summoned to Foreign Office on Wednesday, Pakistan lodged a strong protest over unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces along the Line of Control (LoC) on Thursday and Sunday last. In a statement issued, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal said the Indian forces are continuously targeting civilian populated areas with heavy weapons along the LoC and the Working Boundary. He said the deliberate targeting of civilian populated areas is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity, international human rights and humanitarian laws. The FO spokesperson said the ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation. He said Pakistan urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement, investigate these and other incidents of ceasefire violations, and instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit. On Thursday last, a 15 years old boy Tahir Hafeez was martyred while his 9 years old sister Tahira sustained serious injuries in Rakhchikri Sector along LoC. Two innocent civilians including a woman Nasreen Bibi and a 12 years old child Muhammad Zahid s/o Shabbir Ahmed were martyred while a woman Sonia Bibi sustained injuries in Hotspring and Kotkotera sectors along LoC on Sunday last.