Islamabad: Pakistan’s Foreign Office has announced that all the United States diplomats in the country would face restrictions as part of which they will not be able to roam around freely from now.
As reported by the Pakistan’s News International on Thursday, the Trump’s administration decided that the officials of the Pakistan Embassy and four consulates are required to get permission from the State Department five days before going beyond the set limits.
This comes after Trump’s administration turned around Islamabad’s request to put the name of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar leader Umer Khalid Khurasani aka Abdul Wali on the UNSC sanctions committee’s list.
Pakistan had earlier attacked the United States saying that the top militant leaders are residing inside Afghanistan under the full view of NATO and the US troops.
Following this allegation, Trump’s administration turned down Islamabad’s request to put the name of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar leader Umer Khalid Khurasani also known as Abdul Wali, a terrorist listed on the UNSC sanctions committee’s list.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman said, “We are deeply disappointed over the failure of the Sanctions Committee to list Wali who is a known terrorist and has the blood of hundreds of innocent Pakistanis on his hands”.
He added if Jamaat-ul-Ahrar had been listed by the Sanctions Committee, then its leader should also have been listed.
He further accused the international bodies of having double standards in terms of fighting terrorism and disregarding Pakistan’s sacrifices for curbing terrorism.
Pakistan has also decided that from May 11, restrictions will be imposed on all American diplomats and their movements.
The US fired back saying that Pakistani diplomats in Washington D.C. would be facing similar restrictions.
It has been further reported that back-door negotiations are underway between the two countries.
Pakistan also clarified for not allowing Pakhtun Afghan refugees in the PTM (Pashtun Tahafuz Movement) rallies.
The Foreign Office spokesman said, “Refugees are not allowed to take part in political activities. Pakistan follows this policy for Afghan refugees as well.”
Earlier in April this year, the United States and Pakistan had faced tensions over visa policy.
As reported by the Dawn, Pakistan had received a notification by the US imposing restrictions on the movement of the Pakistani diplomats as they would need to apply for permission at least five days ahead of an intended travel outside the imposed 25 miles radius.
On the other hand, the US officials, in discussion with their Pakistani counterparts, argued that Islamabad had already slapped similar restrictions on its diplomats, who are barred from travelling to Karachi and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
The tensions had escalated to an extent that the US had introduced short duration visas to the Pakistani officials.
(ANI)