Pakistan may pull out diplomats’ kids studying in India

New Delhi: Pakistan is reportedly considering the option of asking its diplomats to pull their children out of schools in India after the end of the current academic session in view of the diplomats’ harassment row with India. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s high commissioner Sohail Mahmood reached Lahore on Friday — hours after being called by his government for consultations — and is expected to meet Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi early next week, according to Pakistani media reports.

Islamabad alleges that in one instance, the children of a senior Pakistani diplomat were in a car on their way to school when it was stopped after a chase by another vehicle, following which the driver was pulled out of the car and subjected to verbal abuse. Islamabad said the children were traumatised as a result.

Children of Indian diplomats are not permitted by the Indian government to study in schools in Pakistan. India says its diplomats have been harassed for far too long there and it’s time Pakistani security agencies stop this harassment.

Pakistan had earlier issued a note verbale to India on the matter while India too had issued a note verbale to Pakistan last week. New Delhi had said on Thursday that the Indian high commission in Islamabad was facing “a litany of issues which have not been resolved for several months”.

On Thursday, the Pakistan foreign ministry said: “Pakistan’s high commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood would be visiting Islamabad shortly for consultations on matters relating to Pakistan-India relations.” Asked about these developments, MEA spokesman Raveesh Kumar had said on Thursday: “It is pretty normal and routine for any country to call its envoy for consultations.”