Bonhomie over,Pak to protest against driver’s detention

The Indian official has been recalled to India.

Government sources indicate that Pakistan High Commissioner Shahid Malik is scheduled to call on Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao this afternoon to protest the treatment meted out to the staff while India and Pakistan cricket teams were slugging it out in the World Cup semifinal at Mohali grounds last Wednesday.

While much has been written on the issue in the past week including how there was a threat to the Mohali spirit,the fact is the Pakistani staffer was picked up by the Indian military intelligence after he was found around restricted military area near the Chandigarh airport.  

This staff has been posted as the driver of the ISI station chief in India under official diplomatic cover. The Pakistani staff was picked up during a pre-arranged meeting with a junior commissioned officer of the Indian Army near the Chandigarh airport. Both the staffer and the JCO belong to either sides of Kashmir.

When the Pakistani delegation got to know about this detention,Shahid Malik not only informed his Prime Minister but also slipped in a quiet word with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the bilateral meeting at Mohali. However,as both Singh and Nirupama Rao had been briefed about the detention,the Indian side assured the Pakistani delegation that the staffer would be released after routine questioning.

The Pakistani tit-for-tat came the very next day with an Indian official,working under diplomatic cover,picked up in Islamabad and relentlessly questioned for 24 hours. As soon as New Delhi got to know about this,Nirupama Rao called up her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir and lodged a protest at the illegal detention.