India on Wednesday summoned Pakistani High Commissioner to lodge a strong protest over “discourtesy” shown by Pakistani authorities to Indian High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale, whose address to Chamber of Commerce was cancelled at the last minute by his host in Karachi on Tuesday.
The US too delivered a snub to Pakistan with US Ambassador to India Richard Verma asking Pakistan to do more to eliminate terrorists’ safe havens saying terror groups like lashkar-e-Tayyeba and Jaish-e-Mohammed continue to be a threat to everyone.
The MEA Secretary, Sujata Mehta, summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit to the South Block and conveyed the Government’s concern over “discourtesy” shown to Bambawale.
“He (Basit) was also conveyed our hope that our accredited diplomats in Pakistan will be allowed to discharge their normal functions without hindrance,” MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.
The summoning came on a day Pakistan Army Chief General Raheel Sharif fired another salvo at India during a speech in Islamabad when he indirectly accused India of “raining” bullets on the people in Kashmir, which he described as Pakistan’s “lifeline”.
Backing the demand for self-determination in Kashmir, Sharif said the “oppressed people” of the Valley are once again suffering “worst form of State terrorism” and “repression” for demanding their due rights.
Meanwhile, speaking at the US-India Expert Workshop on Countering Terrorist Use of the Internet, Ambassador Richard Verma said,” “We’re also aware India is located in a challenging neighborhood and the United States has been very clear, at the highest levels, that Pakistan can and must do more to eliminate terrorist safe havens.”
Verma said last year, the US and India signed a Joint Declaration on combating terrorism, which outlined a shared vision for counter terrorism cooperation and reiterated the “concerns about terrorist groups like lashkar-e-Taiba, the Haqqani Network, Jaish-e-Mohammed, and others”.
“Across the board, our security cooperation is making our two nations, and the world, a safer place... Our strategic convergence on countering-terrorism has never been closer,” he said.