NEW DELHI: Whether Advisor to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Sartaj Aziz’s short walk with Indian National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval will break the ice between the two arch rivals is yet to be seen. However, Islamabad’s complaint about mistreatment of Aziz has evoked strong response from the Indian establishment that said the top diplomat was extended all courtesies including the chance to say “Adab (Hello)” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Pakistan has on Sunday complained that Indian authorities denied permission to 87-year-old Aziz to visit the Golden Temple or interact with the media. Islamabad took it as a barb from New Delhi and termed it contravention of diplomatic protocols.
“They have no reasons to complain. We were gracious hosts. We extended Tarmac access, gave additional rooms, provided armoured cars (not given to every Foreign Minister) and other conveniences keeping special security requirements in view,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) officials said. Sunday being the martyrdom day of Guru Teg Bahadur, the Golden Temple had devotees thronging the holy shrine in large numbers.
The visit to the Golden Temple for the VIPs and VVIPS was arranged a day prior on Saturday. Aziz also had a surprise element in his visit as he arrived a day earlier to the scheduled arrival. “We even did all the arrangements despite last minute change of programme and advancing of arrival in Amritsar by special flight by more than 12 hours. Fresh flight clearance was issued within minutes. Their Head of Delegation (Aziz) could therefore be present in the official dinner and in the call on PM on December 3rd,” the officials added. An exception was made for Aziz so that he could arrive and depart from Amritsar, that is not a designated entry or exit point for Pakistani nationals.
The strained relation between the two countries does have spill over on their diplomatic relations. Earlier this year, Home Minister Rajnath Singh had flown to Islamabad to attend the Home Ministers’ Conference of SAARC countries. But he cut his visit short and returned to India red faced after his speech was blacked out and his Pakistani counterpart chose to skip the lunch planned for dignitaries despite being the host.