NEW DELHI: India has objected to the UK for allowing its Parliament to Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi as a stage for a Kashmir conference during a visit to London this weekend, a media report said on Thursday.
According to a report by The Economic Times (ET), New Delhi has conveyed these objections through diplomatic channels after it emerged that the Pakistan foreign minister has a packed Kashmir agenda during his visit starting February 4.
“The UK, for its part, is believed to have assured India that Qureshi will not be on an official bilateral visit and no formal meetings are scheduled for him with the British government,” the ET report claimed.
Also, Qureshi recently made a phone call to Hurriyat (M) chairman Mirwaiz Farooq on Tuesday to invite him to the conference.
“Qureshi is also expected to join protest marches on Kashmir in London,” the report said.
The ET report while quoting its sources said New Delhi has officially raised the matter with the UK. “We have taken up the matter with the UK authorities and they are aware of our sensitivities on the motivation and timing of the visit,” The report quoted a sources as having said.
Qureshi is leading a Pakistan government effort to hold a seminar on the report of the UK all-party parliamentary group on Kashmir headed by MP Chris Leslie.
The report, which was brought out last November is critical of Indian Army presence and has highlighted human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir by Indian forces.
It also called for the removal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and the Public Safety Act.