ISLAMABAD: Pakistan summoned Indian chargé d' affaires and a strong demarche was served on him summoned against New Delhi's "baseless and fallacious" propaganda against Kartarpur Sahib Corridor.

"The Indian Chargé d' Affaires was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Friday to categorically reject baseless and fallacious propaganda against the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor by the Indian Government, which had been rejected by the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC) itself," Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said.

The summoning of the top Indian diplomat comes following the Indian government summoned a senior Pakistani diplomat over the "transfer of management of the Kartarpur Sahib Gordwara in Pakistan".

According to Chaudhri, it was communicated to the Indian side that the malicious propaganda by the Indian government appeared to be a clear attempt to malign the "Peace Corridor" initiative by casting mischievous aspersions against the interests of the Sikh community and to detract attention from India's own reprehensible human rights violations of minorities in India.

"It was underlined that the PSGPC remained responsible for carrying out rituals in Gurdwara Sahiban, including Kartarpur as per the Sikh Rehat Maryada. The Project Management Unit (PMU), under the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), had simply been created to facilitate the PSGPC in this regard," he stated.

He added that the Indian side was told that any insinuations regarding "transferring" the affairs of the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur from the PSGPC to the PMU were contrary to the facts and ran against the spirit of the landmark initiative.

"It was underscored that the Sikh community from all over the world remained greatly appreciative of the efforts made by Pakistan to complete the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor Project in record time and for the excellent arrangements made to facilitate the pilgrims," the spokesperson added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020