India asks countries to take action against 'Kashmir cells' set up by Pak

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar on Thursday urged foreign countries to take action against the so-called 'Kashmir cells' set up by Pakistan across all their missions in the world.

"We all are aware that the government of Pakistan has set up Kashmir cell across all their high commissions in the world. The main objective of these cells is to incite the local population with a nationality where they belong to and to radicalise them through false propaganda," Raveesh Kumar said while briefing media persons here.

He added, "We hope that countries where these Kashmir cells have been opened, they do realise that it is very dangerous since such cells which openly incite violence and should be closed."

"All countries should take appropriate action against such cells operating from their soil," he urged.

Meanwhile, asserting that India must have raised the issue of Controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik's extradition during external Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's meeting with Malaysian counterpart Saifuddin Abdullah on the sidelines of the NAM Ministerial Summit, Raveesh said: "When EAM met his Malaysian counterpart, various issues including Zakir Naik's extradition must have been discussed."

"We did reiterate the support we expect from Malaysia towards the extradition of Zakir Naik. We expect Malaysia to take action in this regard," he added.

On Wednesday, Jaishankar met Abdullah in Baku and held an "open and candid conversation" on "outstanding issues."

"Had an open and candid conversation with my Malaysian counterpart @saifuddinabd on outstanding issues," tweeted Jaishankar.

Jaishankar's meeting with Abdullah comes at a time when tensions are high between India and Malaysia after Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad angered India when he raised the issue of Jammu and Kashmir in the United Nations General Assembly last month.

India is a founding member of NAM, which is one of the largest gatherings of world leaders.