Pakistan has said that the Chinese couple abducted from Quetta in May had been engaged in “preaching”, Reuters reported. On May 24, Lee Zing Yang and Meng Li Si were abducted from Jinnah Town in Balochistan and later said to have been killed by the Islamic State group.

Pakistan Interior Minister Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan (pictured above) was told on Monday that the couple were part of a group of Chinese citizens who had entered the country by getting business visas from Beijing, the report added. However, the couple had instead gone to Quetta where they pretended to learn Urdu from a Korean businessman and engaged in “evangelical activities”, Khan was apparently told in the meeting.

Khan is believed to have expressed concerns over the breach of visa rules and asked for a review of the process of issuing visas to Chinese nationals coming to Pakistan. He also suggested a databank to keep track of Chinese employees in Pakistan, the report added.

On Monday, China had clarified that its President Xi Jinping and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had met “several times” during the recently-held Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kazakhstan’s Capital. Beijing’s statement came after reports said Xi had skipped a customary meeting with Sharif at the SCO summit after the murder of the Chinese couple in Balochistan.

“Some reports are just nonsense and unwanted,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said, according to PTI. “China and Pakistan enjoy an all-weather strategic partnership.” Lu had stressed that Sino-Pakistani ties have not been affected by this incident, reported Global Times.