New Delhi - Shortly before demitting office on Wednesday, Pakistan’s envoy Abdul Basit, in an interview with Hindustan Times, accused Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj of seeking ‘brownie points’ on Twitter and not being serious about diplomacy.

On being asked why the Foreign Affairs Adviser to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Sartaj Aziz did not reply to letters Swaraj has personally addressed to him, Basit said, “You make letters public for point scoring. This is not serious diplomacy, frankly. Why try and score brownie points. We need to get serious about the relationship.”

“We are not obliged to reply to everything. On one hand, India takes the Jadhav case to the ICJ and on the other, writes to our foreign adviser. Let us wait and see. And on medical visas, do you need such letters from foreign ministers of other countries? It is unjust to have a different rule for Pakistan,” Basit said.

Not long ago, Swaraj had revealed that Aziz had not replied to a letter in which she requested for a visa for the mother of Kulbhushan Jadhav, a former Indian naval officer who was captured by Pakistan and sentenced to death on grounds of spying. Swaraj had also criticised him for not recommending visas for Pakistanis seeking medical assistance in India.

75 DEFENCE PERSONNEL IN PAK CUSTODY: INDIA

There are 75 missing Indian defence personnel, including 54 prisoners of war, who are believed to be in Pakistan's custody, the Indian parliament was informed on Wednesday, reported Press Trust of India (PTI).

However, presence of these missing Indians has not been acknowledged so far by Pakistan, Indian Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh said in a written reply in Lok Sabha.

The minister also said that as of July 27, there are 417 fishermen in Pakistan’s custody and 15 fishermen in Sri Lanka’s custody, who are believed to be Indian nationals.

“In case of Pakistan, consular access is awaited and information about the states that they belong to is not available. In case of Sri Lanka, the 15 fishermen are believed to be from Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry,” Singh said.

Replying to another question on the issue, he said, the government regularly takes up with Sri Lanka and Pakistan the matter of early release and repatriation of Indian fishermen and fishing boats.