NEW DELHI: India indefinitely postponed the Foreign Secretary-level talks with Pakistan which were slated to take place on June 1-3 in New Delhi. The government also decided to fly a special plane to Islamabad complete with a medical team to “evacuate” the injured counselor Rajesh Mittal whose condition is said to be serious.
After a somewhat restrained reaction for the past two days the government dramatically stepped up its response to the torture and expulsion of its diplomat by Pakistani authorities lashing out at Islamabad for its “unreasonable attitude” and for continuing to “indulge in wild and unfounded allegations about the conduct of a senior member of the Indian High Commission.”
The External Affairs Ministry spokesman told a correspondent that the government had waited for over 36 hours to see “if there were any rational reactions to the blatant violation of international law and diplomatic conduct that has taken place in Islamabad.”
“Regrettably the statements emanating from various sources in the Pakistan government show no sense of regret or any remorse for the brutal treatment meted out to a senior Indian diplomat.” he declared.
In these circumstances he said the government could not bur consider the attitude of the Pakistan government unreasonable and betraying “no desire to move forward in building up our bilateral relationship in a meaningful manner.”
He said this unfortunate incident has vitiated the atmosphere between the two countries and the government had to respect “outraged public sentiment” here.
The spokesman disclosed that the government had been monitoring medical reports from Islamabad about Mittals condition after the “torture and brutal treatment” meted out to him by the authorities in Islamabad. He said that the government was concerned that his condition remains serious which is why it had decided to fly out a special plane to bang him back to New Delhi.
The medical team aboard the plane will include a cardiologist and a physiotherapist and the High Commission in Islamabad has been asked to obtain special flight clearance for it to land.
The spokesman said the government hopes to be able to reschedule the meeting.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 5, 1992
