ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, information minister Fawad Chaudhary and National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf have condemned Indian policy of not allowing journalists to visit Islamabad through Wahga border.
Pakistani ministers and adviser criticised New Delhi for denying permission to five foreign journalists based in India to visit Pakistan, saying that free speech and independent journalism was shrinking under the “insecure” Indian government.
The statements from Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry and National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf surface a day after the Modi-led government, declined Pakistan’s request to allow the journalists to travel to Islamabad through Wagah border.
The report says the Wagah border crossing was closed for of all travelers, except “diplomats and some others” due to coronavirus pandemic.
Reacting to the Indian government’s decision, Qureshi expressed his displeasure, tweeting that the space for independent journalism was shrinking under Modi’s “dictatorial regime”.
Chaudhry, also through a tweet, said the journalists were to attend a session of Azad Kashmir Assembly on August 5, as he urged New Delhi to “allow independent Journalists to visit IOK and let them report facts”.
NSA Yusuf also condemned India, saying, “these are actions of an insecure government that has much to hide and doesn’t want the world to see the reality of AJK”. He said that brutalities of India in occupied Kashmir were condemnable actions and the world community must raise its voice in support of oppressed people.
