Pakistani PM Imran Khan criticises Indian controversial citizenship bill

Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan on Tuesday criticised a controversial Indian bill which is aimed at granting citizenship to illegal immigrants belonging to six religions from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Citizenship will be granted to religions including Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism, Parsi and Christianity. However, it has kept out Muslims from applying for the citizenship.

The Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) was passed early Tuesday (local time) in Indian parliament’s lower house, Lok Sabha.

Pakistani prime minister and the country's foreign ministry issued statements to condemn the Indian move.

Pakistan strongly condemns the Indian Lok Sabha citizenship legislation which violates all norms of international human rights law and bilateral agreements with Pakistan, Khan tweeted on Tuesday.

Pakistani foreign ministry also condemned the legislation by India’s Lok Sabha and said the decision is “premised on a falsehood and is in complete violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international Covenants on elimination of all forms of discrimination based on religion or belief.”

“We condemn the legislation as regressive and discriminatory, which is in violation of all relevant international conventions and norms, and a glaring attempt by India to interfere in the neighbouring countries with mala fide intent,” the foreign ministry said in a statement late Monday.

“The Lok Sabha legislation is also in complete contravention of various bilateral agreements between Pakistan and India particularly the one concerning security and rights of minorities in the respective countries,” the statement said.

Indian media reported on Tuesday the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in India plans to introduce the bill in the Rajya Sabha, upper house of the parliament, on Wednesday.