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WASHINGTON: The United States and Pakistan seem to have amicably resolved a row that could have led to the imposition of severe travel restrictions on each other’s diplomats, diplomatic sources told Dawn.
After the US threatened Pakistan with reciprocal action, Islamabad furnished the US Embassy with blanket “no-objection certificates” for their diplomats, the sources said.
“I think so too,” said a US State Department official when approached by Dawn to confirm if the issue had been resolved.
Dawn reported last week the US State Department had hinted that Pakistani diplomats in Washington could be hit with travel restrictions similar to those imposed on American diplomats in Pakistan unless Islamabad lifted its restrictions.
The US was planning to impose the restrictions from Aug 1 but an understanding between the two sides amicably resolved the dispute, the sources said.
“Although the dispute has been resolved, some issues remain and it could become problematic in future,” said a senior diplomat familiar with the efforts to improve US-Pakistan ties.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry in June issued rules asking all diplomats to get permission in advance to travel outside Islamabad.
This applied to US diplomats as well who needed permission even to travel to cities where the US maintains consulates.
Dawn reported on Sunday that US Ambassador Cameron Munter was briefly stopped at Islamabad airport on July 28 when he arrived there to board a plane for Karachi.
“He was asked about this (no-objection) certificate, didn’t have it with him, but was allowed to board the plane and return to Islamabad without incident,” said State Department spokesman Mark Toner while confirming the incident.
Mr Toner said there had been an incident last week in which US diplomats were prevented from travelling between Islamabad and Peshawar but this problem had been solved too.
“And I would just say, speaking on a broader level, that we’re working cooperatively with the government of Pakistan to resolve the issue,” he said. “We’ve raised this issue on multiple levels in Washington and in Islamabad with the government of Pakistan.”
Asked if the US had threatened to place reciprocal restrictions on the movement of Pakistani diplomats in Washington, Mr Toner said: “Speaking hypothetically or theoretically, reciprocity is always a consideration.”
