Soldiers’ mutilation fallout: Visiting Pakistani children sent back

New Delhi, May 3 (IANS) In the wake of mutilation of an Indian soldier and a BSF trooper by the Pakistani Army on the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir, 50 schoolchildren visiting India from across the border were on Wednesday sent back following a government advisory.

Invited by Delhi-based non-profit organisation Routes2Roots, the children had arrived in India along with their teachers on May 1, the day Indian Army's Naib Subedar Paramjeet Singh and BSF Head Constable Prem Sagar were killed and their bodies mutilated in Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch district.

" 'This is not an appropriate time for such exchanges' was the advice conveyed to the NGO by the Centre," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay told the media here.

Besides a trip to Agra, the Pakistani children were to meet their Indian pen-friends and attend a host of programmes.

The NGO, hosting the exchange programme since 2004, said the visit was cut short due to flared diplomatic tensions and security concerns.

"Keeping in view the security aspect and the sentiments of fellow Indians, the delegation has been sent back to Lahore safely," NGO founder Rakesh Gupta said.

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