Photo: PTINew Delhi: India on Wednesday summoned Pakistan’s high commissioner Abdul Basit to the foreign office to protest the last minute cancellation of an engagement of its high commissioner to Islamabad Gautam Bambawale in southern Pakistan a day earlier. This comes as the two countries are engaged in a war of words over Kashmir and terrorism emanating from Pakistan. Basit was summoned “to the ministry of external affairs and conveyed the concern of the government of India by secretary (west) on the discourtesy to the Indian high commissioner”, a statement by Indian foreign ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said. The report said the Indian high commissioner was informed about the cancellation “just half an hour before the event, the invite for which was received and accepted by him a couple of weeks ago”. “There have also been many occasions when the Pakistani high commissioner in New Delhi has not received permission to visit places or suddenly, events or programmes he was to address, have been cancelled,” one of the persons cited above said.

Source: Mint September 07, 2016 18:45 UTC