Pakistan told to let diplomats work without hindrance

Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit was summoned to the Ministry of External Affairs of India  and told that Islamabad should let Indian diplomats posted in Pakistan work “without hindrance.”

Sujata Mehta, Secretary (West) took up the issue of “discourtesy” to Indian envoy Gautam Bambawale in Karachi.  “He was conveyed our hope that our accredited diplomats in Pakistan will be allowed to discharge their normal functions without hindrance,”  a leading daily from India quoted its source as saying.

The incident of discourtesy involved the Karachi Chamber of Commerce where a speech on India-Pakistan trade ties by Mr. Bambawale was cancelled barely an hour before the event was to take place on Tuesday. A senior diplomatic source based in the High Commission of Pakistan in Delhi, said that  Bambawale’s visit to Karachi was a privilege granted to him which turned controversial after his comments during an event held on Monday at the Karachi Council on Foreign Relations. He said that some members of the trade body objected to Bambawale’s comments and pushed for cancellation in solidarity with the situation in Kashmir.