Prime Minister Imran Khan on the occasion of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah's birth anniversary assured minority communities that they would be treated as equal citizens in Naya Pakistan "unlike what is happening in India".

The prime minister on Tuesday tweeted that "Naya Pakistan is Quaid's Pakistan and will ensure that our minorities are treated as equal citizens, unlike what is happening in India."

He added that Jinnah had envisaged Pakistan as a "democratic, just and compassionate" nation.

"Most importantly, he wanted our minorities to be equal citizens. It should be remembered that his early political career was as an ambassador for Hindu Muslim unity," the premier said, adding that Jinnah's struggle for a separate nation for Muslims only began when he realised that Muslims would not be treated as equal citizens by the Hindu majority.

It is the second time in a week that the prime minister has highlighted the treatment of minorities in India. On Saturday, the premier had asserted that Pakistan would ensure equal rights to all minorities and show Indian premier Narendra Modi’s government "how we treat the minorities in Pakistan in stark comparison to the minorities’ status in India".

He had said that in India voices were being raised about the discriminatory treatment of minorities.