ISLAMABAD: Following media reports that Pakistan had offended the Nepalese by sending beef in food packets, the Foreign Office clarified on Thursday that the population of Nepal was “mostly Hin­­du, not Buddhist” and that Indian media reports on the subject had been exaggerated.

“We have been in contact with Nepalese authorities. We have been informed that they have no issues with the food packets from Pakistan. On the contrary, the Nepalese authorities requested another planeload of the food packets supplied by Pakistan,” FO Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam told Dawn on Thursday.

The controversy surfaced when Indian doctors at a Kathmandu hospital pointed out that packets of ‘beef masala’ were sent by Pakistan as part of relief aid to quake survivors.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2015

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