ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Pakistan has dismissed the Indian claims that it was importing an equipment meant to be used for military purposes from China, and termed them ‘factually incorrect’.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar in a media briefing in New Delhi on March 5 told that the Indian Customs seized a dual-use equipment that experts had determined had “military applications” from a Pakistan-bound Chinese Merchant Vessel at Kandla Port on February 3 while on its way to Port Qasim in Karachi.
“We have noted the reports about inspection and seizure by the Indian authorities of an item from a Pakistan-bound commercial vessel by the Indian authorities,” the Foreign Office Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said on Saturday in her response to the above development.
Aisha Farooqui said that in this regard, we have also been approached by the private company in Pakistan which had imported the item under question.
The Spokesperson said that the item under question is a heat treatment furnace casing system which has several industrial applications. It is not listed on any international export control list.
Contrary to what is being claimed, the item was correctly declared in the relevant documentation and there was no attempt to hide or conceal any information, she said.
“Claims regarding the possible military dimension of the held item are factually incorrect. Similar furnaces are being used in several industries in Pakistan and the world over,” the Spokesperson said.
Earlier on Thursday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian at his regular briefing also dismissed the Indian accusation, saying that the autoclave on the Pakistan-bound vessel that India claimed to be material for ballistic missiles was neither military supplies nor dual-use items under non-proliferation and export control.
“After seeking the information, we know that this item is actually a heat treatment furnace shell system produced by a Chinese Company in China,” Zhao Lijian said.
The Pakistan bound merchant vessel from China was detained by India, but the autoclave on the ship that India claimed to be material for ballistic missiles is neither military supplies nor dual-use items under non-proliferation and export control. pic.twitter.com/zZCzgjFnk1
— Spokesperson发言人办公室 (@MFA_China) March 5, 2020
