Karachi snubs Indian envoy.
Karachi snubs Indian envoy.
Virtually hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had, without mentioning any names, singled out Pakistan as the only South Asian country breeding terrorism in the region while addressing the Hangzhou G-20 summit, government sources signalled that he is likely to visit Pakistan for the Saarc summit in November this year in yet another bid to ease tensions in bilateral relations.
If the PM’s trip to Islamabad actually materialises, it will be in the backdrop of tensions over the unrest in Jammu and Kashmir.
External affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said, however, on Tuesday that decisions and announcements of this kind were not made so far in advance, when asked about the possibility of the PM visiting Pakistan. The speculation about the PM’s possible visit gained ground after India’s high commissioner to Pakistan Gautam Bambawale was reported in that country’s Dawn newspaper as having said on Monday that “I can’t say about the future... but as of today Prime Minister Modi is looking forward to visiting Islamabad for the Saarc summit in November”.
In a snub directed at the Indian envoy, meanwhile, the Karachi Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday cancelled an event where Mr Bambawale was to speak at the last minute, apparently over his remarks Monday on Pakistani interference in Kashmir. Mr Bambawale, who was on his first visit to Karachi after assuming charge in January, was told of the cancellation “just half an hour before the event, the invite for which was received and accepted by him a couple of weeks ago”, PTI reported, quoting sources. The organisers did not give any reason for this immediately.
Indian officials felt that Mr Bambawale’s comments about Pakistan’s interference in Kashmir, which he noted was India’s internal matter, “rattled the Pakistani authorities, prompting a cancellation”. This, they said, was “very disrespectful on the part of the organisers”. On Monday, at an interactive session hosted by the Karachi Council on Foreign Relations, Mr Bambawale had taken a swipe at Pakistan over its interference in Kashmir, saying people living in glass houses should not throw stones at others.
Answering questions on Kashmir and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent statement on Balochistan, the high commissioner also noted that there were problems in both India and Pakistan. “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 said.
