Proper channels to be used with Lanka on sensitive issues – India

Appropriate channels with Sri Lanka will be used to address issues of sensitive nature, the Ministry of External Affairs said today amid reports of a Pakistani diplomat, posted in Colombo, being involved in a conspiracy to target the US and Israel consulates in south India at ISI’s behest.

“India and Sri Lanka have a multiplicity of channels to address each other’s concern. They may not be always in the public domain,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson told reporters here.

Noting that diplomats use front doors, he said there are others too.

“And should there have been issues of sensitive nature that impinge on our security, let me assure you that the appropriate channels would be used to address them,” he said.

Pakistan is understood to have quietly withdrawn its official from its High Commission in Colombo following the report.

Counselor (Visa) Amir Zubair Siddiqui had been withdrawn even before NIA’s request under Mutual Assistance Legal Treaty (MLAT) reached Colombo as his presence had become incompatible with his diplomatic duties, officials here said.

Pakistan, which has been on the back foot, maintained that Siddiqui’s tenure in Sri Lanka was over and he has since returned to Islamabad, PTI reports.