That Advisor to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz was barred from visiting Sikhs' holy site, the Golden Temple, during his Amritsar visit is a sardonic comment on the so-called secular credentials of India under Narendra Modi. That the Indian authorities demonstrated a measure of genuine hostility towards Pakistanis at the Heart of Asia Conference is also a fact. The security officials of the Heart of Asia conference misbehaved with Pakistani journalists and embassy officials on the occasion. Pakistani High Commissioner Abdul Basit lashed out at the security in-charge while he was stopping him from addressing the media on the occasion. "I am Pakistan's High Commissioner and folks from Pakistani media are my people as nobody could stop me from talking to them," Abdul Basit reportedly said angrily.
Sartaj Aziz's visit to Amritsar seems to have thrown a spanner in the sinister works of the BJP government. It is widely believed that New Delhi wanted Pakistan to boycott this event so that it could further deepen its clout over Afghanistan under a beleaguered President Ashraf Ghani. Sartaj Aziz's presence there was an unsavory development from India's standpoint.