India could be behind killing of Chinese national, says Pakistan govt

Pakistan's Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal today alleged that India could be involved in the targeted killing of a Chinese national in Karachi, media reports said.

Iqbal said Pakistan has established a strong force of ten thousand personnel for the protection of Chinese citizens but India which has undue apprehensions over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects may be involved in the killing of the 46-year-old managing director of a shipping firm in Pakistan.

Chinese national Chen Zhu was killed on Monday after being shot in the head by unidentified gunmen in Karachi.

In an interview to BBC, the minister alleged that Indian death row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav had admitted that Indias intelligence agency was involved in sabotaging CPEC projects.

"Representatives of our neighbour country have gone on record to say that India is against the deepening trade partnership between Pakistan and China, Iqbal was quoted as saying by the Express Tribune.

The interior minister said that confessional statements by Jadhav in this regard are evidence of India's "subversive activities" in the region.

Refusing to rule out India's involvement in the targeted killing of a Chinese national, Iqbal said, "The recent target killing of a Chinese national in Karachi is another link of this espionage chain. India could be involved in this.

The minister stated that the "nefarious designs of the enemy" would not succeed, and the relationship between Pakistan and China will only improve further.

Thousands of Chinese workers are employed in development of about USD 60 billion worth of infrastructure projects under Beijing's 'Belt and Road' initiative. The port and road- building projects have come under frequent attacks in Balochistan.