Pakistani Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sheikh Rashid Ahmed Friday expressed his shock at India's refusal to grant him permission to visit the India-held Kashmir.

Rashid vowed that one day he would go there and pray. "I am shocked at India's refusal. One day I will visit the held Kashmir to offer fateha (prayers) at the graves of my grand parents," Rashid was quoted by the Associated Press of Pakistan as saying.

Rashid had planned to travel to Srinagar, summer capital of the India-held Kashmir, on June 30. His parents migrated to Pakistan from Srinagar in 1947 when Pakistan and India became independent states.

Rashid said he had never returned to Srinagar since his parents settled in Pakistan and that he wanted to offer prayers at the graves of his forefathers and to meet his relatives.

India's External Affairs Ministry earlier on Friday announced that Rashid had been refused permission to visit the India-held Kashmir.

Source: Xinhua