Monday, May 19, 2003
Monday, May 19, 2003 |
| Front Page | ||
|
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Front Page
By B. Muralidhar Reddy
The news took everyone, including the Foreign Office, by surprise, as Pakistan had not yet sought what is known in diplomatic parlance as `Agreema', consent of the host country. It has so far not forwarded the relevant papers on Mr. Khan to enable India to go ahead with the formalities. The confusion created by Mr. Jamali was confounded by the Foreign Office. Hours after the state-run Pakistan Television telecast the news, the Foreign office issued a statement in the wee hours of today that no final decision had been taken and that Mr. Jamali had not been "rightly quoted". This extraordinary clarification was issued at 02:30 a.m. IST through the official APP news agency, barely six hours after the announcement. It appears there was no written statement from the Foreign Office and that the agency was conveyed the news orally. However, sources in the Foreign Office insisted that the late night statement was issued after "talking" to Mr. Jamali. "The Prime Minister conveyed that no decision has been taken about the appointment of Indian envoy. A final view on the subject would emerge in a day or two after a meeting between the Foreign Minister, Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, who is currently in London, and Mr. Jamali," a senior official said. An aide of Mr. Jamali confirmed that the Prime Minister did tell the Indian journalist about Mr. Khan's appointment and expressed surprise over the Foreign Office statement. Journalists were surprised to see the statement for more than one reason. Firstly, it seemed to contradict the Prime Minister's announcement. Secondly, why should it be issued in the wee hours, after the state-run Pakistan Television had carried the news several times before? All these factors made journalists wonder if there was any tussle within the establishment over the choice of new envoy to New Delhi. At least one Pakistan journalist managed to contact Mr. Khan in Beijing hours after the news was out. Mr. Khan told him that he had not yet been officially informed about his new assignment. He said he had received many requests from various journalists but refused to comment until he assumed charge. Significantly, the official clarification did not deny Mr. Khan's appointment to the post but only "clarified" that no decision has been made.
Related Stories:
Printer friendly
page
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
|
|
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | Home |
Copyright © 2003, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|
