India summons Pakistan's diplomat over fisherman's killing
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The injured fisherman are being treated at a hospital in Okha, Gujarat. According to reports, the deceased fisherman was from Thane, Maharashtra.
India's ministry of external affairs on Monday summoned a senior Pakistan diplomat over the killing of an Indian fisherman by the Pakistani Maritime Security Agency (PMSA ) off the coast of Gujarat.
During the summoning, India lodged "strong protest on the incident of unprovoked firing" at Indian fishermen by the Pakistan side, sources said.
Over the weekend, PMSA which is an arm of the Pakistani Navy had opened fire on the Indian fishing boat "Jalpari" injuring many and killing one fisherman.
The injured fisherman are being treated at a hospital in Okha, Gujarat. According to reports, the deceased fisherman was from Thane, Maharashtra.
Sources said that while condemning the "deplorable action by Pakistani agency", the Indian side highlighted that it was in "contravention to all established international practices and bilateral understandings."
The Indian side during the summoning "reiterated that the authorities in Pakistan consider the issue of fishermen as a humanitarian and livelihood matter" and asked Islamabad to "conduct an inquiry into the incident" and " refrain from such acts of unprovoked firing".
The incident comes even as New Delhi-Islamabad ties remain tense. Pakistan is not participating in India-hosted talks on Afghanistan at the National Security Advisor level and had withdrawn overflight clearance for the Srinagar-Sharjah flight.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has said that it is "unaware of any incident where someone has been killed or injured" and it has "no knowledge about the boat Jalpari or its crew state".
The release from PMSA did mention that it apprehended an Indian boat named Padmani Kopa for "not adhering to the instructions". The release listed the name of Indian crew - Bhupat Babu (Nakhuda), Sanjay Shidwa, Kishore Mashya, Nirender Bujad, Ajay Vodu, Santosh and Ramu Bujad.
In the past as well, PMSA has been involved in attacking Indian fishing boats. In April last year, the agency had attacked Indian fishing boats, back then the ministry of external affairs had termed the incident a "deplorable and unprofessional act".
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