No travel ban on Pak diplomats in US

ISLAMABAD: Will the United States restrict the movements of Pakistani diplomats from May 1, to within 25 miles of the area they have been posted to with seeking permission from State Department at least five days before any Pakistani diplomat wants to travel beyond these given miles?

Is Pakistan expected to repay in kind as well? These questions were raised as the Spokesman at the Foreign Office for the first time linked up live from Beijing to take questions from the media in Islamabad.

“Regarding the restrictions on Pakistani diplomats, we do not comment on media reports”, the spokesman responded creating more confusion as the US State Department and Pakistan’s Embassy in Washington earlier denied these reports.

Earlier, media reports had indicated that the mood in the Foreign Office was hawkish with officials saying that if Washington took such an extreme step, American diplomats here would be awarded the same treatment.

“There are no restrictions on the travel of Pakistani diplomats in the United States,” a US Embassy spokesperson had confirmed. Most reports pointed to not only the deteriorating relationship after President Trump came into power but also the reckless driving and killing of a Pakistani youth by the US defence and air attaché Col Joseph Emanuel Hall’s, while he injured another citizen.

However, tensions in reality between the US State Department and the Foreign Office and security agencies here reached a peak in 2011 when a CIA agent Raymond Davis shot to death two Pakistanis in Lahore while at the same time a US Consulate vehicle ran over another innocent man.

It was at this time when the ISI was taken aback at the manner where no background checks had taken place by the Pakistan Embassy in Washington and such US contractors and CIA agents were being granted visas and roaming freely killing at will. Facts also emerged that hundreds of Pakistan visas were being allowed by the President House bypassing the Foreign Office once again.

The spokesman, while commenting on the April 7th killing by Colonel Joseph Emanual Hall, commented, “The US Ambassador has assured the Foreign Secretary of full cooperation in this issue. We await results of the investigations before discussing the issue any further.”

He recalled that the US attaché was involved in a car accident on the 7th Avenue-Margalla Road junction that killed the motorcyclist (Ateeq Baig) on the spot and injured the co-rider (Mr Raheel).

“FIR has been lodged and matter is under investigation at this stage. The Foreign Secretary has conveyed to the US Ambassador that justice will take its course in accordance with the law of the land and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961,” he added.

Meanwhile, over the Western borders as loud cries and rhetoric was being heard over reportedly, over mind-boggling accusations that more than four hundred rockets have been fired by Pakistan inside the Kunar province.

“Our troops only respond when they are under attack by these terrorist groups. Our response - as mentioned many times before - is always directed to the point of origin. We respect Afghanistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. We neither step into Afghan soil, nor fire inside its territory”, responded the spokesman.

He claimed that the TTP, JuA, LI and other terrorist organisations from Pakistan through operation Zarb-e-Azb have relocated themselves in Afghanistan. “Daesh too has made sanctuaries on Afghan side of the Pak-Afghan border. These terrorist groups regularly undertake cross-border raids on our posts. On 7th April one of our soldiers was martyred in a sniper fire from Afghan territory. Again on 8th April one soldier was martyred and five others, including an officer, were injured in a cross-border raid by terrorists based in Afghan territory”, complained the spokesman.

However, he pointed out that the Afghan forces have taken action against terrorist sanctuaries along the border and deployed its troops. “We urge Afghanistan to take similar actions on other terrorist infested areas to fully address this issue. We have shared actionable intelligence with the Afghan side about the hideouts of terrorists along the Pak-Afg border”, was a strong appeal from Pakistan.

As the Modi government no longer hides its hatred for Pakistan not missing any opportunity to allow Pakistan to even to carry out a regional agenda like Saarc, the spokesman held in Islamabad “at the earliest”.

“The Saarc Summit was regrettably scuttled by India. Pakistan condemns the attempt to bring the bilateral issues into multilateral forums. Indian belligerence has brought this multilateral forum to a halt, holding hostage the development and economic progress of the whole region. We expect to hold the, already delayed Summit in Islamabad, at the earliest”, he added.