Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Monday said the government will extend all assistance to former cricket captain Shoaib Malik, who has been slapped with cheating and harassment charges in India by Ayesha Siddiqui who claims to be his wife.
"I have asked the High Commissioner to India to contact India's Foreign Ministry and get information about the nature of the FIR and what is in it," Qureshi told reporters outside parliament.
"He is one of our renowned players and we are proud of him. The government of Pakistan and our High Commission will extend all possible assistance to him," the minister said. Shoaib, who is set to marry Indian tennis star Sania Mirza on April 15, had his passport and mobile seized by Hyderabad police.
"We greet him on his decision (to marry Sania Mirza) and we are praying for him. We hope God will allow him to set up his home happily. I cannot comment on the legal issues," Qureshi added. The Pakistan government earlier said it was in touch with Indian authorities in connection with the police complaint filed against Malik.
Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit told the media that the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi was in contact with Indian authorities and had asked them to share information on the First Information Report filed against Malik in Hyderabad. Pakistani authorities have "to wait till all the details of the FIR are with us," Basit said.
The Indian government had not yet shared details of the FIR with Pakistani officials, he said. "We will give Shoaib Malik all the assistance he requires. We will proceed in the best interests of Shoaib Malik," Basit said. Malik recently travelled to Hyderabad after Ayesha's reiterated her claims that she had married the cricketer in 2002.
The 28-year-old Shoaib told a police team this morning at the Hyderabad residence of 23-year-old Sania that he had been tricked into a marriage with Ayesha. PTI
