External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today spoke to one of the two clerics of Delhi’s Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah, who were later traced after going missing in Pakistan.
Pakistan had yesterday conveyed to India that the two missing clerics had been “traced” and that they had reached Karachi.
Syed Asif Nizami, the head priest (Sajjadanashin) of Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia Dargah, and his nephew Nazim Nizami — had gone to Pakistan on March 8 and were to return to India on March 20.
The main purpose of the visit of 80-year-old Asif to Pakistan was to see his sister in Karachi.
Yesterday, Swaraj had spoken to Pakistan Prime Minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, regarding the case.
According to Pakistani media reports, both clerics had been in “interior Sindh where there was no communication network” and thus could not tell their relatives about their whereabouts.
Earlier, Pakistani sources had said the two clerics were in the custody of Pakistan’s intelligence agency over their alleged links with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).
The clerics were offloaded from Karachi-bound Shaheen Airlines on March 14 at the Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore, the sources claimed.