Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh's arrival in Islamabad today, ahead of the 7th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) meeting for interior ministers, was greeted with protests by terror groups in Pakistan.
The two-day summit is going to address terrorism, drug and human trafficking in the region. Singh stated his agenda for the meet in a tweet on reaching Islamabad.
He is expected to raise several issues, especially those pertaining to cross-border terrorism and the most-wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim, at the meet.
According to India Today, over 2,000 members of various religious and terror groups gathered outside the Islamabad airport as well as the venue of the conclave, blaming Singh for the recent turmoil in Kashmir since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on 8 July.
Members of the Hizbul Mujahideen, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, the United Jihad Council and other such outfits were united in their denunciation of Singh. Mishal Malik, wife of Kashmiri leader Yasin Malik, also staged a protest before the National Press Club in Islamabad.
Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed's Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) said it would not leave the place unless India receives aid in the form of dry food and medicines meant for Kashmiris.
Hafiz Abdur Rauf, chief of Falayh-i-Insaniat Foundation, a sister organisation of JuD, said many doctors and paramedical staff were also part of the protests. "These doctors and para-medical staff want to go to Srinagar to treat our injured Kashmiri brethren," he said.
On Tuesday, a JuD caravan led by Talha Saeed, son of Hafiz Saeed, had staged a sit-in at the Line of Control (LoC) near Chakothi in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), where it was stopped by Pakistani security forces.
Earlier Hafiz Saeed had warned the Pakistan government that Singh's presence in Islamabad may instigate "unrest" among Kashmiris as well as Pakistanis in the light of the killings in Kashmir over the last few weeks.
(Written with agency reports)
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