Soon after Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s statement that minorities are treated as “second-class citizens” in India, New Delhi shot back saying that Khan’s remarks are “an egregious insult to all citizens of India”.

“The Pakistan Prime Minister’s remarks are an egregious insult to all citizens of India,” the Ministry of External Affairs said late on Friday.

Reports in Pakistani media had on Friday quoted Imran Khan saying that his government would ensure equal status and rights to all minorities living inside Pakistan.

“The PTI government would not allow minorities to be treated like second class citizens like those experienced by minorities in India,” Khan was quoted as saying by Pakistan Today during a ceremony at Balloki, located south of Lahore in The Punjab province.

Strongly reacting to Khan’s remarks, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar pointed out the status of minorities in India as compared to those in Pakistan.

“India has eminent leaders of all faiths who occupy its highest Constitutional and official positions. In contrast, Pakistani citizens of non-Islamic faith are barred from occupying high Constitutional offices. The minorities are often turned away from government bodies like the Economic Advisory Council of their Prime Minister, even in ‘naya Pakistan’,” Kumar said.

Slamming Khan for his “lack of understanding about India’s secular polity and ethos”, Kumar pointed out that “adherents of all faiths choose to live under the democratic polity and the progressive Constitution of India”.

“Pakistan would do well to focus on its domestic challenges and improve conditions of its citizens rather than try and divert attention,” the MEA spokesperson said while adding that Pakistan’s “latest attempts to play with minority sentiment in India will be rejected by the people of India”.

India has previously accused Khan of making anti-India statements and trying to ‘mainstream terrorist organisations’ with a view to deflecting attention from the financial woes of his country.

The MEA had in January said there was no seriousness in Khan’s statement that India was not ready for talks with Pakistan. India had then pointed out that a senior minister in the Pakistan Government had shared the stage with JuD chief and Mumbai attack plotter Hafiz Saeed on 30 September 2018 at a rally at which vitriolic anti-India statements were openly made.