Only 'met, discussed': Brahumdagh Bugti denies filing asylum papers for India in 2016

The exiled leader of the Baloch Republican Party (BRP), Brahumdagh Bugti, on Thursday refuted reports that said he had applied for a political asylum in India in 2016.

"I only met and discussed, all verbal," Bugti told ANI, when asked if he actually filed any papers as reported or if it was just a meeting at the Consulate.

It was reported that Bugti had, on September 19, 2016, formally asked the Indian government to grant him an asylum and Indian nationality so that he could live in India and move around the world to campaign against Pakistan. The report was later denied by the Indian Government and the BRP.

Also, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), earlier in the day, refused to comment on whether Bugti had applied for a political asylum.

"I am not aware about any such application, so I can't answer the question," MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said, in a press briefing.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Switzerland rejected Bugti's request to seek a political asylum after more than seven years.

Bugti took to Twitter to inform of the development.

"After more than seven years of waiting Switzerland has now rejected my application for political asylum," he tweeted.

The application of the BRP leader had earlier also been turned down by the Switzerland immigration authorities. Bugti was, however, informed at the start of this year that his case "remains in the process" and "no time frame can be given."

To this end, Bugti told ANI, "I am right now only focussing on my case in Switzerland because now if I leave it like that, it would mean I am agreeing what the Swiss think about us. I will prove that Pakistan is wrong and Switzerland will regret it. We are thinking to challenge it in European court.