FO rejects Afghan govt's statement on mistreatment with ambassador

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday rejected the statement issued by the Afghanistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs on mistreatment with the Afghan ambassador, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

“We have seen the statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan and reject the assertion of the “mistreatment” of the Afghan Ambassador,” said a press release issued by the foreign office.

“The Government of Pakistan extends due respect and courtesies and expects that the foreign envoys conform to the established diplomatic norms and principles,” adds press release.

Commenting over the matter of harassment with Pakistan diplomats in Afghanistan the FO said, “The personnel of Pakistan’s diplomatic Missions in Afghanistan being systematically harassed for the past few days, our concerns have already been conveyed to the Afghan Government.”

Pakistan urged Afghan authorities to take immediate steps to ensure safety and security of the personnel of Pakistan’s diplomatic missions in Afghanistan.

Earlier on Sunday, the Foreign Office summoned Afghan Charge d’Affairs to convey serious concerns over the safety and security of the diplomatic personnel of the Embassy of Pakistan in Kabul.

In a statement, Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr. Muhammad Faisal said the Afghan Charge d’Affairs was informed that the officers and staff of the Embassy of Pakistan were being harassed over the past two days.

It must be noted that Pakistani diplomats have faced harassment by officials in Afghanistan as many complaints emerged in the past two days.

Sources said that the Afghan officials started harassing Pakistani officials from the Saturday night as their vehicles had been stopped on different routes and inappropriate remarks launched against them.

According to the ARY News correspondent, the officials stopped the vehicles of Pakistani diplomats who were moving towards the embassy from their residence. The NDS officials started hurling abuses at the Pakistani officials, sources said.

The complaints have not emerged for the first time in Afghanistan as Pakistani diplomats faced difficulties in movements in past and harassed by Kabul officials.