Pakistan urges Afghanistan to review decision of calling back ambassador

• FM Qureshi says that Pakistan government will take all possible steps to bring the suspects to justice at the earliest.
• The foreign minister apprises his Afghan counterpart that the security of the Afghan embassy and consulate in Pakistan has been beefed up.
• The Afghan foreign minister thanks Prime Minister Imran Khan for his personal interest in the investigation into the incident.

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday urged the Afghanistan government to reconsider its decision of calling back its ambassador from Pakistan keeping in view Islamabad’s serious efforts to solve the issue of the alleged abduction of envoy's daughter, Geo News reported.

FM Qureshi held a telephonic conversation with his Afghan counterpart Mohammad Haneef Atmar today and assured him that the suspects involved the incident occurred on 16th of July will be apprehended soon.

Pakistan government will take all possible steps to bring the suspects to justice at the earliest, he added. FM Qureshi said, “Ministry of Foreign Affairs is fully aware of the diplomatic norms.”

The foreign minister apprised his Afghan counterpart that the security of the Afghan embassy and consulate in Pakistan has been beefed up and hoped that the Afghan government will reconsider its decision of calling back its ambassador and other senior diplomatic staff from Pakistan.

During the telephonic conversation, the Afghan foreign minister thanked Prime Minister Imran Khan for his personal interest in the investigation into the incident.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Afghanistan had recalled its ambassador and senior diplomats over "security threats" after the top envoy’s daughter was briefly “kidnapped” in Islamabad this week.

'International conspiracy'

Earlier, Minister for Interior Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed had said that the incident involving the daughter of the ambassador of Afghanistan to Pakistan "was not an abduction" at all.

While speaking during Geo News' programme "Naya Pakistan", Sheikh Rasheed had said, “This is an international conspiracy. An agenda of RAW."

He had said that the daughter had first claimed that her phone was stolen, "and later handed her phone over but with the data deleted".

The interior minister said that the CCTV footage of the time of the incident had been reviewed and it was found that there were not two, but three taxis that she had used.

"She took a taxi from Daman Koh and did not return home," Rasheed had told the TV channel.

The minister had said three videos had been reviewed, whereas an attempt to acquire a fourth is being made.

"The girl went from F-7 to Daman Koh and then over to the F-9 Park area," the minister had further said, detailing the events of the day.

He had said that when the girl stepped out of the home, she walked over to Khadda Market first for shopping.

The minister had said that a point in her journey, ahead of the Gakhar Plaza, is a blind spot at the moment as the authorities have not been able to obtain the footage for the area yet.

"The girl also used her mobile phone internet services while at Daman Koh," he had added.

The minister further said that the photograph of the girl circulating on media "does not belong to the girl".