Afghanistan rebukes Pak minister’s ‘unprofessional remarks’ on envoy’s daughter kidnapping

Kabul [Afghanistan], July 21 (ANI): Afghanistan on Wednesday expressed “deep concern” over the continuation of what it called “unprofessional remarks” by Pakistan’s Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed regarding the abduction of the Afghan envoy’s daughter, says these “prejudgments” will result in increased mistrust.

A day after saying the Afghan envoy’s daughter wasn’t kidnapped, Sheikh Rasheed on Tuesday accused New Delhi and Kabul of distorting facts. Reacting sharply to Rasheed’s remarks, the Afghan Foreign Ministry said it expects unprofessional prejudgements to be avoided before the investigation comes to an end.

“While the investigation process has not been concluded and the perpetrators have not been arrested, the continuation of unilateral statements and unprofessional prejudgments will call the transparency of the investigation into question and result in increased mistrust,” the ministry said.

“We expect unprofessional prejudgements to be avoided before the investigation comes to an end. Instead, we urge that all efforts should be geared towards obtaining evidence and completing the probe, as well as arresting and prosecuting the perpetrators,” it added. Silsila Alikhil, the daughter of Afghan envoy Najibullah Alikhil, was abducted in Pakistan for several hours on Friday and was severely tortured by unknown individuals on her way home.

Earlier in the day, Afghanistan Foreign Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar spoke to his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi and expressed deep concerns over the Pakistani Interior Minister’s remarks on the ongoing investigation into the abduction of the Afghan Ambassador’s daughter.

Atmar said that “unprofessional remarks and premature judgments” could strongly affect bilateral relations and the credibility of the ongoing, and still incomplete investigation, the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The abduction deteriorates already-strained relations of Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Afghan government recalled its top envoy and diplomats.

Though Pakistan has pledged to solve the case soon, the Pakistan interior minister said that the investigation conducted by the authorities found no evidence of abduction in the incident concerning the ambassador’s daughter. Rasheed Ahmed has accused Afghanistan and India of “distorting” the facts related to the kidnapping of the daughter of Afghan envoy in Islamabad, Dawn reported on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference in Rawalpindi, the minister said the incident was not a kidnapping and is part of a series of attempts to defame and destabilise Pakistan. (ANI)