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Pak officials prevent guests from attending Indian High Commission’s Iftar party

The officials turned away the invitees and also reportedly harassed and intimidated some of them.

Pak officials prevent guests from attending Indian High Commission’s Iftar party

Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria speaking at the event. (Photo: Twitter/@1khankareem)

Pakistani intelligence officials not only prevented guests invited by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad for an Iftar party on Saturday but also harassed them.

According to reports, Pak intel officials posted themselves outside the Indian High Commission and the Serena Hotel, where the event was scheduled to take place, virtually laying a siege.

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The officials turned away the invitees and also reportedly harassed and intimidated some of them.

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Reports say that the guests were called from masked numbers and threatened with consequences if they attended the Iftar.

“We apologise to all our guests who were aggressively turned away from our Iftar yesterday,” Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria was quoted as saying by ANI.

“Such intimidatory tactics are deeply disappointing. They not only violate basic norms of diplomatic conduct and civilised behaviour, they are counter-productive for our bilateral relations,” he added.

Many of the guests who arrived for the party at the hotel found the gates shut. They were reportedly told that the Iftar party had been cancelled.

“I would like to apologise. I know many of you had to face a lot of problems to enter this place, and many could not come,” Bisaria said at the event, while welcoming those who managed to attend.

The invite had been extended to Prime Minister Imran Khan besides other top leaders of the government.

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said criticised Pakistan for the “tit for tat diplomacy”.

“Stupid tit for tat diplomacy. It was stupid when we did it outside the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi and it’s stupid when it’s done outside our’s in Islamabad. Now that it’s 1-1 perhaps it’s time to move on & stop this nonsense,” he wrote on Twitter.

 

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