New Delhi: Government of India on Thursday slammed Pakistan for accusing India of the recent kidnapping of the daughter of an Afghan envoy in Islamabad.
Addressing a virtual briefing here on Thursday, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, "This is a shocking incident. However, since Pak Interior Minister has dragged India into it, I would like to say that even by their standards, Pakistan's denial of the victim's account is stooping to a new low".
This comes after Pakistan's Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed on Wednesday accused Afghanistan and India of distorting the facts related to the kidnapping of the daughter of the Afghan envoy in Islamabad. The minister had said the incident was not a kidnapping and is part of a series of attempts to destabilize Pakistan.
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Silsila Alikhil, 26-year-old, daughter of Afghan envoy to Islamabad Najibullah Alikhil was abducted and severely tortured in Islamabad on July 16 by unknown individuals, according to the Afghan's ministry of foreign affairs. Two days later, the Afghan government recalled its envoy and senior diplomats from Islamabad over security concerns.
The Afghanistan government condemned the heinous act and expressed their concern over the safety and security of their diplomats and their families in Pakistan. The incident has downgraded the already strained Kabul-Islamabad ties.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi telephoned his Afghan counterpart and assured him of taking all possible measures to arrest the culprits involved in the kidnapping of the Afghan envoy's daughter.
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