FO summons Afghan envoy to convey concern on diplomats harassment

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Sunday 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, ARY News reported.

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.

They were obstructed on the road and the Embassy vehicles were also hit by motorcycles while going towards the Embassy.

He said the Charge d’Affairs was asked to convey to the Afghan authorities to immediately investigate these security violations and harassment incidents, share report with the government of Pakistan in this regard, and ensure against recurrence of such incidents in the future.

The Spokesperson said the Charge d’Affairs was reminded that being a party to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Privileges and Immunities 1961, it is the responsibility of the government of Afghanistan to ensure safety, security and freedom of movement to all members of the mission.

It must be noted that Pakistani diplomats have faced harassment by officials in Afghanistan as many complaints emerged last night.

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.