India summons Pakistani deputy high commissioner over targeting of Sikhs

New Delhi : India on Monday summoned the senior-most Pakistani diplomat in New Delhi to lodge strong protest over targeting of Sikhs in Pakistan, demanding an immediate action against the culprits.

Pakistan’s deputy high commissioner Syed Haider Shah was summoned to the external affairs ministry hours after Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal and other Sikh leaders wrote a letter to external affairs minister S Jaishankar demanding that India should seek action against those targeting Pakistani Sikhs.

According to a statement from the external affairs ministry, a strong protest was lodged over the "vandalism and desecration" of Gurdwara Janamsthan at Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak in Pakistan, on Friday and the "targeted killing" of a Sikh man in Peshawar on Saturday.

"Government of Pakistan was called upon to ensure safety, security and welfare of the members of the minority communities in Pakistan, including their places of worship, and take immediate measures to expeditiously bring the perpetrators of such despicable and heinous acts to justice," the statement said.

Earlier, India had strongly condemned the attack on Gurdwara in Nankana Sahib, and the murder of the 25-year-old Sikh man named Ravinder Singh.

Meanwhile, Pakistan authorities have arrested Chisti and set up a high-powered committee to investigate the murder of Ravinder Singh.