Pakistan Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua on Thursday summoned Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisara, a day after New Delhi conveyed strong protest against Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi's phone call to Kashmiri separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.
Janjua told Bisaria that "Pakistan's reach out to the Hurriyat leadership was in line with its stated, publicly declared, time-honoured policy of extending political, diplomatic and moral support" to them, a statement issued by the Pakistan Foreign Ministry said.
On Wednesday, Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood in New Delhi and conveyed strong protest against Qureshi's phone call to Farooq.
Gokhale told Mahmood that Qureshi's action amounted to "direct interference" in India's internal affairs and that Pakistan should desist from such actions, failing which there can be "implications".
According to Pakistan Foreign Ministry statement, Janjhua claimed that "the Indian reaction was only an indication of domestic politics being allowed to override India's international obligations".
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