New Delhi: The government on Thursday blasted Pakistan over the desecration of Gurdwara Nankana Sahib near Lahore recently and the killing of a Sikh youth there, saying a country which cannot take care of its minorities should not tell others how to do it.
''A country that cannot take care of its minorities should not tell other countries how to do it,'' Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said while referring to the Nankana Sahib incident and killing of a Sikh youth in Pakistan.
"The incident at Nankana Sahib and the killing of the Sikh man are a mirror for them. It is a mirror for those who lecture others," the MEA spokesperson further said.
It may be recalled that the Gurdwara Nankana Sahib - the birthplace of the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Dev - was attacked by a violent mob on Friday and a large number of Sikh devotees were attacked with stones.
A 25-year-old Sikh man was also shot dead in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar last week.
The MEA official also lambasted the Pakistani Prime Minister, Imran Khan for his reported remarks on protests in India, saying it was the habit of the politicians in the neighbouring country to neglect their own job and comment on things happening in India and other countries.
"They should look within their country, their minorities, against whom atrocities are being committed. They should take care of them, give justice to them," Kumar said.
Asked about Pakistan encouraging the separatist Khalistan agenda, he said it was destined to fail from the beginning.
Referring to the geo-political situation after the killing of top Iranian commander in a US airstrike and Tehran retalliating to it by atacking the US airbases in Iraq, the MEA official said, ''We're closely monitoring the situation. Peace, security and stability in the region are of utmost importance to us. We would like the situation to de-escalate as quickly as possible. We are talking to several stakeholders. The EAM has spoken to players in the region.''
When quizzed about the future of Chabahar Port being jointly developed by Iran and India, Kumar said, ''In the past, the US has shown understanding on the importance of Chabahar project. How the whole thing is going to impact is hypothetical, we'll have to see. But, we do appreciate the US exempting Chabahar port from the sanctions.''
