Pakistanis visiting India asked to "be careful"

Pakistan on Tuesday advised its citizens travelling to India to be careful in the wake of hostile remarks coming from certain Indian quarters. An advisory was issued by the Foreign Office expressing concern about the safety and security of Pakistanis visiting India including the 600-plus Zaireen scheduled to visit Ajmer Sharif for the annual Urs this month.

The advisory cites “disturbing reports'' in the Indian media but does not specify any particular threat. Last Friday, the Foreign Office had remained non-committal when asked if such an advisory would be issued in view of the hostile remarks made by the sister of Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh - who died in a Lahore hospital last week after being injured in a jail attack.

The decision to issue an advisory appears to be in reaction to a Pakistani media report that Indian protestors stopped the cross-border India-Pakistan Friendship Bus in Amritsar. According to the report, the driver had to divert the bus to a nearby police station from where it was provided a police escort to Wagah. However, Indian officials maintained that the incident took place last week and the driver did not encounter the protesters as the usual police escort that the service has was already alerted about the protest.

While advising its citizens to exercise “due caution and care'' during their travel to different parts of India, the Foreign Office also urged New Delhi to ensure that necessary arrangements are in place to provide full protection to all Pakistani visitors to India.