India summons Basit over discourtesy to its envoy in Pak

New Delhi, Sep 7: Indo-Pak ties continued to plummet with India today summoning Pakistan envoy here to lodge a strong protest over "discourtesy" shown to Indian High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale, whose public engagement was cancelled at the last minute by his host in Karachi yesterday.

Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit was called to the South Block by MEA Secretary Sujata Mehta, who conveyed government's concern over discourtesy shown to Bambawale, whose address at the Karachi Chamber of Commerce was called off without any reason being given.

"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.

India and Pakistan are engaged in a fierce verbal battle over terrorism and the situation in Kashmir. While India has accused Pakistan of supporting cross border terrorism, Pakistan, on its part, has been trying to internationalise Kashmir, alleging New Delhi of human rights violations.

Incidentally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a sharp attack on Pakistan at the G20 summit in China on Monday, saying, "one single nation" in South Asia is spreading "agents of terror" and demanded that those who sponsor the menace must be sanctioned and isolated, not rewarded.

PTI