Aziz not allowed to visit Golden Temple: Pak; India cites security concerns

Pakistan today claimed that its Prime Minister's Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz was not allowed to visit the Golden Temple and speak to Pakistani media persons at the hotel where he was staying, even as India said it was done due to security considerations.
Sources in the Pakistani High Commission said Aziz had planned to visit the Golden Temple but was not allowed citing security concerns.
Aziz, who arrived here last evening, wanted to interact with Pakistani mediapersons who accompanied him at the Radisson Blue hotel, the venue of the Heart of Asia conference, but was not given permission by security personnel, the sources said.

Indian government sources said the permission was not given considering his security.
"Security was very tight. Permission was not given due to security reasons. Security of our guests is paramount. India ensured no untoward incident took place," they said.
"Visits to the Golden Temple by VVIPs and VIPs attending the Heart of Asia Ministerial Conference in Amritsar today were initially envisaged for Sunday. However, in addition to being a Sunday, today on 4 Dec Guru Teg Bahadur's Martyrdom Day was also observed," sources said.

Apart from difficulties in ensuring security of VVIPs and VIPs, their visit to Golden Temple today would have caused inconvenience to a large number of devotees, they said.

"Hence two rounds of visits to Golden Temple by VVIPs and VIPs were organised yesterday. Pakistan delegation's request for visit to Golden Temple today was carefully looked into. Given the aforementioned factors, and it was not found feasible to organise adequate security for the delegation at a short notice," the sources added.
There was also a tiff between Pakistani High Commissioner Abdul Basit and security personnel at the hotel after they denied Pakistani journalists entry to the venue.
After security personnel denied permission for Aziz's interaction with the Pakistani media at the conference venue, the Pakistani High Commission planned the interaction at another hotel but that too was not allowed, the Pakistani High Commission sources said.

Later, Basit spoke to the Pakistani media. Aziz left for Pakistan by a special aircraft around 8 PM.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had visited the Golden Temple yesterday, while Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif visited it today.
Apparently, the parents of Hamid Ansari, who is at present lodged in a jail in Pakistan, were waiting for a meeting with Aziz at the Golden Temple.
Mumbai-based Fauzia Ansari and her husband Nihal had come here, hoping to request Aziz to release their son from prison, who has already completed his jail term.
Hamid, an IT engineer and MBA degree holder, had gone to Kabul on November 4, 2012 from where he reached Pakistan allegedly to meet a Pakistani girl he had been in touch with through e-mails.