Diplomat harassment row: Pakistan's envoy back in India, wants to resolve issue soon

Pakistan High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood on Friday said that Islamabad hopes to resolve issues with India as soon as possible as it affects the relationship between our countries.

Speaking at the Pakistan National Day celebrations at Pakistan High Commission in Delhi, Sohail Mahmood said that "I discussed this issue with our govt & we want to sort this out as soon as possible because it affects the relationship between our countries."

A week after he was called back for consultations amid raging row between India and Pakistan over harassment of diplomats, Sohail Mahmood returned from Islamabad on Thursday.

Mahmood was called back to Islamabad for consultations after alleged incidents of "harassment" of its diplomatic staff in New Delhi with Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Muhammad Faisal claiming that the Indian government failed to take notice of the increasing incidents of intimidation of Pakistani diplomats, their families and staffers by its intelligence agencies.

Pakistani media had on March 17 quoted anonymous sources in the Ministry of foreign affairs (MoFA) to say that Mahmood was "not going to return to India anytime soon" or "until the overall situation improves". An Indian official described it as just another pressure tactic used by Pakistan after it decided to pull out of the WTO ministerial earlier this week.

India and Pakistan have accused each other of harassing diplomats in Islamabad and New Delhi respectively.

OneIndia News