New Delhi
1 April 2011
An Indian high commission official in Islamabad went missing after he was
picked up by Pakistan's intelligence agencies Thursday evening, barely hours after
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani of Pakistan returned home from a dinner meeting with
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the cricket world cup semi-final
match between the Indian and Pakistani teams in Mohali. The official was understood to
have since been returned to the Indian high commission, just as mysteriously as he had
disappeared, but the avoidable incident highlighted the systemic distrust that exists
between the two countries and how it threatened to put Prime Minister Singh's cricket
diplomacy in jeopardy. The Indian official went missing at about 5.30 pm Thursday while
he was returning home from work. The Indian high commission in Islamabad took the
matter up with the Pakistan ministry of foreign affairs. It expressed serious concern over
the official's mysterious disappearance and asked the Pakistani authorities to trace him
and to ensure his safety and wellbeing. In New Delhi, the ministry of external affairs got
in touch with the Pakistani mission here. Also, foreign secretary Nirupama Rao
telephoned her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir and urged his government to
release the Indian official forthwith and unharmed. The incident involving the Indian
official was being seen as a retaliation to the detention and subsequent release of a
driver from the Pakistan high commission in New Delhi for entering a prohibited area
near the Chandigarh airport on the day Mr Gilani landed there with his entourage. The
driver was detained for questioning and he was released soon thereafter, which had
been confirmed by Pakistan's foreign office spokeswoman Tehmina Janjua. The Dawn
newspaper of Pakistan cited Ms Janjua as saying in its Friday morning's edition that the
employee has been released.
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