The two Indian clerics – the head priest of Delhi's Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah and his nephew, who went missing in Pakistan, have returned home. Syed Asif Nizami and his nephew Nazim Nizami landed at the Delhi airport this morning and were welcomed by their family members.<br/><br/>Amir Nizami, son of Asif Nizami, thanked the Indian government for its intervention in ensuring their return.<br/><br/>Both the clerics had gone to Lahore on the 8th of this month, but went missing in the middle of last week following which India took up the issue with Islamabad. The purpose of the clerics' visit to Pakistan was to meet their family. On Saturday, Pakistan's Foreign Affairs Ministry had conveyed to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad that the clerics were traced and had reached Karachi.<br/><br/>External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had taken up the issue with Pakistan Prime Minister's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and requested him to trace the missing clerics. Yesterday, Mrs Swaraj spoke to Asif Nizami and said they were safe.<br/><br/>According to Pakistani media reports, both clerics had been in interior Sindh where there was no communication network, therefore they could not contact their relatives. Earlier, there were reports that the two clerics were in the custody of Pakistan's intelligence agency over their alleged links with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.

The two Indian clerics – the head priest of Delhi's Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah and his nephew, who went missing in Pakistan, have returned home. Syed Asif Nizami and his nephew Nazim Nizami landed at the Delhi airport this morning and were welcomed by their family members.<br/><br/>Amir Nizami, son of Asif Nizami, thanked the Indian government for its intervention in ensuring their return.<br/><br/>Both the clerics had gone to Lahore on the 8th of this month, but went missing in the middle of last week following which India took up the issue with Islamabad. The purpose of the clerics' visit to Pakistan was to meet their family. On Saturday, Pakistan's Foreign Affairs Ministry had conveyed to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad that the clerics were traced and had reached Karachi.<br/><br/>External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had taken up the issue with Pakistan Prime Minister's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and requested him to trace the missing clerics. Yesterday, Mrs Swaraj spoke to Asif Nizami and said they were safe.<br/><br/>According to Pakistani media reports, both clerics had been in interior Sindh where there was no communication network, therefore they could not contact their relatives. Earlier, there were reports that the two clerics were in the custody of Pakistan's intelligence agency over their alleged links with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.

The two Indian clerics – the head priest of Delhi's Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah and his nephew, who went missing in Pakistan, have returned home. Syed Asif Nizami and his nephew Nazim Nizami landed at the Delhi airport this morning.<br/><br/>External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj spoke to Nazim Nizami in Karachi yesterday. In a tweet, Mrs Swaraj had said that Nazim Nizami told her that they were safe and will return to Delhi today. Pakistan's Foreign Affairs Ministry had, on Friday, conveyed to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad that the two clerics had been traced and were in Karachi.<br/><br/>The purpose of the clerics' visit to Pakistan was to meet their family. However, there were reports that they were in the custody of Pakistan's intelligence agency over their alleged links with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement. Later, reports said, both clerics had been in interior Sindh, where there was no communication network, therefore they could not contact their relatives.