Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur invited Afghan Consulate officials to the Rahmat-ul-lil-Aalameen Conference in Peshawar.
While Pakistan’s national anthem was playing, Afghan Consul General Mohibullah Shakir remained seated, blatantly disregarding diplomatic protocol.
“The Consul general did not stand during the anthem because of the music in it,” the diplomat clarified his act, adding that Afghan authorities had banned their own national anthem for the same reason.
The Afghan spokesperson said if the anthem had been performed without music or by children, the Consul general would have definitely stood and placed his hand on his chest.
Pakistan has strongly condemned the Acting Consul General of Afghanistan for disrespecting the host country’s national anthem, describing it as a violation of diplomatic norms.
In response to media queries about the Afghan envoy’s disrespect towards the national anthem at a Peshawar event, FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch stated that a strong protest is being conveyed to Afghan authorities in both Islamabad and Kabul.
“We are conveying our strong protest to the Afghan authorities both in Islamabad and Kabul,” the spokesperson said.
