ISLAMABAD: Pakistan summoned a senior Indian diplomat on Thursday to criticize the administration in New Delhi for putting a "mischievous spin" on a recent incident that took place at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib where a female blogger took some pictures without covering her head.
Reacting to the development, the Indian external affairs ministry called it a "reprehensible incident" which had hurt the sentiments of the Sikh community.
The ministry called Pakistan's Charge d'Affaires while issuing a statement which claimed the "desecration" of a Sikh place of worship showed little concern in Pakistan for minority religious communities.
"Given its systematic marginalization and brutalization of minorities, India has no locus standi to even feign concern for minorities elsewhere," said the foreign office of Pakistan in its official statement while rejecting the "mischievous spin given by India to an isolated incident involving an individual" visiting the Sikh temple.
"It was conveyed to the Indian diplomat that the incident was swiftly addressed and clarified," added the statement. "The Government of Pakistan accords highest primacy to the rights of the minorities. Sanctity of religious places and revered sites of every community is ensured in Pakistan."
The Pakistani foreign office maintained the Indian authorities should focus on ensuring effective protection of their own minorities and places of worship from repeated instances of desecration, hate crimes and mob lynching.
India and Pakistan, the two South Asian nuclear giants, have remained bitter rivals and fought three wars since their independence in 1947.