Shocking: MEA on abduction of envoy's daughter in Pak

TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

NEW DELHI, JULY 22

India on Thursday said the recent abduction and roughing up of the Afghan envoy’s daughter in Islamabad was a “shocking incident”. This involves two other countries — Afghanistan and Pakistan, and usually the Foreign Office does not comment on it. “However, since the Interior Minister of Pakistan has dragged India into it, I would only like to say that even by their standards, Pakistan’s denial of the victim’s account is stooping to a new low,” said the MEA spokesperson at the weekly media briefing.

Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has described the incident as a “conspiracy” linked to India’s external intelligence agency.

Selsela Alikhil, the 26-year-old daughter of Afghan ambassador to Pakistan Najibullah Alikhil, was abducted and held for almost five hours by unidentified men in Islamabad on July 16.

The Afghan government in protest recalled its envoy and senior diplomats from Islamabad till Pakistan could guarantee them foolproof security.

Kabul also reacted to the statement by Rashid, considered close to the army and regularly elected to the National Assembly from Rawalpindi that also houses the general headquarters of the Pakistan army.