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| Pranab launches trust building drive Bar on Pak diplomats' movement being lifted | | | BL KAK
NEW DELHI, JAN 11
Government of India will soon announce lifting of restrictions on the movement of Pakistani diplomats, according to a Ministerial source. The issue of easing bar has been discussed by the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, with the Minister for External Affairs, Pranab Mukherjee. And the two have felt the need to remove restrictions on the Pak diplomats.
Pranab Mukherjee, the Ministerial source told EARLY TIMES, convinced his Prime Minister by his argument that there would be no need for restructions on the diplomats of Pakistan and India in the face of evolving relations that demand trust. Mukherjee, who is slated to arrive in Islamabad on Saturday (Jan. 13) on his first official visit to Pakistan, will take up with his Pakistani counterpart, Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, the issue of removal of restrictions on Indian diplomats in that country.
Delhi-based Pakistani diplomats have already been found quite interested in making frequent visit to a few places, including Noida and Gurgaon on the suburbs of the Union capital. These diplomats will, following the removal of restrictions on their movement, once again be able to play golf in Noida and Gurgaon. And in the event of Pakistan removing restrictions on diplomats in Islamabad, picturesque Murree sector of Pakistan will automatically get re-opened for India's diplomatic staff.
Since Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, did not want the continuance of bitterness over tit-for-tat restrictions on the movement of diplomats, he stepped in and quietly interacted with his External Affairs Minister, Pranab Mukherjee. Significantly, by the time the two leaders discussed the matter, Mukherjee had taken the stand in support of easing restrictions on the movement of Pak diplomats.
India's Foreign Office had, three months ago, conveyed to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi that its diplomats could not go to the adjoining towns of Noida and Gurgaon. The towns are outside Delhi's municipal limits. Both Noida and Gurgaon are famous for their modern cinema halls, farmhouses, shopping malls and golf culbs.
Significantly, many Pakistani diplomats are members of golf clubs in Noida and Gurgaon. Obviously, India's Foreign Office was set thinking anew after Pakistani High Commissioner had asked the Ministry of External Affairs to reconsider its decision. In fact, the Pak High Commissioner called for the removal of restrictions on his diplomatic staff.
Indian diplomats in Pakistan were told by Pakistan's Foreign Office to seek permission if they wanted to visit Murreee or Rawalpindi. The situation now is not what it was then. This is borne out by New Delhi's message to Islamabad that the government of India is willing to withdraw restrictions on Pak diplomats' visits to Gurgaon if the Pak government permits India diplomats to visit Taxila and Hassan Abdal.
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