ISLAMABAD: Expressing concern over the reported targeting of Pakistanis in the UK by immigration authorities, Pakistan on Thursday warned the British government that ill treatment of its citizens would have an impact on bilateral ties.
The warning was conveyed by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to British High Commissioner Adam Thomson, who was summoned to the Foreign Office in the wake of media reports that Pakistanis living in the UK were being targeted by the UK authorities.
In a statement issued after the meeting, Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said, “The Senate’s Standing Committee on Interior, which met earlier on Thursday, took serious note of reports indicating that Pakistanis living in the UK were being targeted.”
“In accordance with the decision of the Senate’s Standing Committee on Interior, Foreign Minister Qureshi has raised this issue with the British high commissioner at the Foreign Ministry,” he said. The minister underscored that a large Pakistani community in the UK was generally law-abiding and was contributing to the UK’s economy.
Separately, at his weekly press briefing, Basit said Pakistan was not worried about US President Barack Obama’s statement that he saw India as the ‘cornerstone’ of the US future engagement with Asia.
prism of US-India ties.
