NEW DELHI: The political developments in Pakistan resulting in the dismissal of the Nawaz Sharif Government may create “uncertainty” in India’s relations with its neighbor, External Affairs Minister Dinesh Singh told the Lok Sabha on April 19.
Singh said that India could not remain “indifferent” towards the Situation in Pakistan even as the developments were “basically that country’s internal affair.” Events in the neighboring country always had implications for India both in general and in terms of security, he said.
Meanwhile, speculation is rife in diplomatic circles over the fate of the Pakistan High Commissioner to India, Riaz Khokar, following the dismissal of the Nawaz Sharif government.
Although Khokar is a career diplomat and not a political appointee, a question mark hangs over his term in New Delhi because of his proximity to the dismissed Prime Minister, Nawaz Shanf,
Sharif’s other appointees, the envoy to Washington, Abida Hussain, and the High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Hussain Haqqani, have already resigned. Neither were, of course, career diplomats and their resignations were inevitable. Sharif is believed to have handpicked Khokar for the assignment in India, appointing him as High Commissioner over the heads of several Pakistani Foreign Service officers much senior to him. Khokar belongs to the 1966 batch of the Service and diplomatic observers here point out that he came to New Delhi with facilities and perks outstepping those of his predecessors and Pakistani envoys in other countries.
What may come to Khokar’s rescue to his strident anti-India diplomacy which is reflected in the unprecedented harsh statements being issued by the Pakistan mission since he took charge Despite being a diplomat, Khokar has not hesitated to level allegations against the Indian government as he did in the case of the two Pakistan nationals who were killed.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 23, 1993
