NEW DELHI: Union Minister for External Affairs (MEA) S Jaishankar on Friday said India is closely monitoring the incidents of violence against minorities in Pakistan and Bangladesh and making its position ‘well known’.
Replying to supplementary questions during Question Hour in Lok Sabha, Jaishankar flagged 10 incidents involving attacks on Hindus in Pakistan in February this year, saying India cannot change the “fanatical and bigoted mindset” of the neighbouring nation. “Even Indira Gandhi could not do it,” he said.
Among the 10 incidents, seven are related to abduction and forcible conversion, two are cases of abduction and one is related to police action against students celebrating Holi, the minister pointed out.
“Our representatives at the UN Human Rights Council pointed out that Pakistan is a country where human rights abuses, persecution of minorities, and systematic erosion of democratic values are state policies which brazenly harbour UN sanctioned terrorists,” Jaishankar said, adding that Pakistan is no position to lecture anyone and should focus on providing governance and justice to its own people.
He informed the House that there were three other cases related to atrocities against members of the Sikh community. In one case, a Sikh family was attacked; in another, a Sikh family was threatened for reopening an old Gurdwara, and another case involved abduction and conversion of a girl from the Sikh community, the MEA said.
Jaishankar asserted that India is flagging these incidents in the international level. “Like in Pakistan, we track the well-being of minorities in Bangladesh too... In 2024, we had 2,400 incidents related to attacks on minorities and in 2025, there were 72... I have taken it up with my counterpart there. The foreign secretary too took it up during his visit,” Jaishankar said.