Seizure of ‘hazardous containers’: FO rubbishes reports of Indian media

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan, on Saturday, rejected the Indian media reports as “factually incorrect, baseless, laughable and a usual ploy” that claimed “seizure of possible radioactive material” by Indian port authorities on shipping containers of a commercial vessel loaded from Karachi Port and en-route to Shanghai, China.

“We have noted the reports in the Indian media about “seizure of possible radioactive material” by Indian port authorities at the Mundra Port on containers loaded on a Shanghai-bound commercial vessel from Karachi Port,” Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said, while reacting to reports.

He said that the reporting by the Indian media about “seizure of possible radioactive material” is “factually incorrect, baseless, laughable and a usual ploy of the Indian media to malign Pakistan and mislead the international community.”

“The fake reporting by Indian media is indicative of a malafide intent to twist procedural customs issues to bring into disrepute IAEA safeguarded nuclear power program,” he added.

He said that the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant authorities have informed that these were empty containers being returned to China which were earlier used for the transportation of fuel from China to Karachi for K-2 and K-3 Nuclear Power Plants.

Pakistan rejects Indian media reports claiming ‘seizure of possible radioactive material’

“Both K-2 and K-3 Nuclear Power Plants and fuel used in these plants are under the IAEA safeguards. The containers were empty and the cargo was correctly declared as non-hazardous in the shipping documents,” the spokesperson added.

To a Business Recorder’s question, the spokesperson did not share any further detail as to whether the seizure happened or not of either “empty or loaded” containers, as well as, the current status of these containers.

Referring to a to a statement issued on Friday by Adani Port and Logistics, the operator of the port, the Indian media claimed that Indian authorities have seized several containers believed to contain “radioactive substances” being shipped on a foreign vessel from Pakistani port city of Karachi to Shanghai in China.

“The seizure was made at Mundra port in Gujarat on Thursday by a joint team from Indian customs and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI),” according to a statement, adding: “the joint team of customs and DRI seized several containers at Mundra Port from a foreign vessel on concerns that they contained undeclared hazardous cargo.”

“While the cargo was listed as Non-Hazardous, the seized containers had Hazard Class 7 markings (which indicate radioactive substances),” it further claimed.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021