Foreign Office spokesperson Aisha Farooquicommenting on allegations by Indian authorities regarding an item seized from a detained Pakistan-bound Chinese merchant vessel said claims regarding the possible military dimension of the item in question were factually incorrect.
In a press release, the Foreign Office spokesperson said: "We have noted the reports about inspection and seizure by the Indian authorities of an item from a Pakistan-bound commercial vessel. In this regard, we have also been approached by the private company in Pakistan which had imported the item under question."
Farooqui clarified that the item was a "heat treatment furnace casing system" with "several industrial applications".
Indian authorities had detained Chinese merchant vessel MV Da Cui Yun in the first week of February at Deendayal port, formerly known as Kandla port, alleging that it carried an autoclave which had been mis-declared in the cargo manifest. It was claimed that the autoclave could be used in the manufacture of missiles.
