Summons Pakistan’s high commissioner over cancellation of Bambawale’s event. PHOTO: REUTERS
NEW DELHI/ KARACHI: India summoned Pakistan’s High Commissioner Abdul Basit on Wednesday over the ‘last-minute’ cancellation of an event scheduled to be attended by Indian High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale in Karachi.
“Pakistan’s High Commissioner Abdul Basit was summoned today to the Ministry of External Affairs and conveyed the concern of government of India by Secretary Sujata Mehta on discourtesy to Indian high commissioner,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said on Wednesday.
Basit was told of New Delhi’s view on the ‘discourtesy’ shown to Bambawale. “He was conveyed our hope that our accredited diplomats in Pakistan will be allowed to discharge their normal functions without hindrance,” Swarup added.
Bambawale was due to meet with the management of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on Tuesday, but the meeting was cancelled over security concerns. Though the decision to call off the event was mutual, Indian media presented a conflicting picture claiming that Bambawale was told of the cancellation only half an hour before the event – that too without citing any reason.
Some Indian officials assumed the apparent snub stemmed from Bambawale’s comments on the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir at an earlier event in Karachi. “This is very disrespectful on the part of organisers,” one Indian official said.
On Monday, during an interactive session organised by the Karachi Council on Foreign Relations, Bambawale had taken a swipe at Pakistan saying people living in glass houses should not be throwing stones at others while calling Kashmir an ‘internal matter’ of India.
“There are problems in both India and Pakistan and you (Pakistan) should focus on resolving your problems before looking into the problems of other countries,” he had said.
Mutual decision
Contrary to reports in Indian media, the KCCI president insisted that the event was cancelled based on a mutual decision between the chamber and Bambawale. “The visit was cancelled due to security issues, it had nothing to do with anything else,” Younus Muhammad Bashir told The Express Tribune.
Bashir added that law enforcement agencies had told him about the security threats Tuesday evening and he discussed the situation with the Indian envoy. The two sides then mutually decided to cancel the programme.
The KCCI president added that the Indian envoy had requested a meeting with the chamber’s management a week ago and they had decided to hold it on September 6.
A former KCCI president told The Express Tribune that it is a normal practice for foreign envoys to visit the chamber and address members. “It’s like a norm, all Indian envoys visit the chamber whenever they plan a trip to Karachi,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 8th, 2016.
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