In Amarinder-Randhawa tiff, Pak journalist Aroosa Alam 'ready for probe' on ISI link

After Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa questioned former Chief Minister Amrinder Singh's Pakistan friend Aroosa Alam's alleged links with ISI, the Pakistani journalist has said that she is ready to join the probe by Indian agencies as she described the claims as "outrageous and utterly disappointing".

Randhawa last week said that an investigation will be carried out to check if Aroosa Alam has links with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence. Alam told PTI,

I am ready to cooperate with the central agencies of India if they are opening any probe on the issue. India can even engage third-country investigators to probe the baseless propaganda against me.

'Captain sahib still my good friend', says Alam

She informed that around 16 years ago, the Indian government had refused a visa to her for some reason and that she got a visa following an investigation. "Despite this controversy, Capt sahib is still my good friend," the 67-year-old journalist said. She also said that her last visit to India was in November last year.

She called the allegations outrageous and utterly disappointing. The journalist further said that linking her with the ISI could be the brainchild of Navjot Singh Sidhu's chief strategist Mohd Mustafa. She said,

He might have advised Sidhu to play an ISI card after badly losing his bid to become the chief minister. The ISI card sells well in India.

Punjab Deputy CM attacks Captain's friend

Last week, Punjab Deputy CM Randhawa claimed that the government would investigate Captain's friend, Aroosa Alam's alleged links with ISI. In reply, Captain Amarinder Singh said that Randhawa was resorting to personal attacks.

When Randhawa raised a question about Pakistan journalist's visa, Capt Amarinder Singh's media advisor, quoting the ex-CM, said, "As for who sponsored Aroosa’s visa, of course, I did, for 16 years. And FYI, @Sukhjinder_IND, requests for such visas are sent by Indian HC to @MEAIndia, which gets them cleared by RAW & IB before approving. And that’s what happened in this case every time."