Pakistan recalls Sohail Mahmood, its High Commissioner in India, ‘for consultation’

Pakistan has recalled Sohail Mahmood, its High Commissioner to India, Islamabad announced on Monday. Dr Mohammad Faisal, the spokesperson of the Pakistan Foreign Ministry, took to Twitter and said that, “We have called back our HIgh Commissioner in India for consultations. He left New Delhi this morning.” The move comes days after India recalled Ajay Bisaria, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, in the wake of the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district. Before this, India had summoned the Pakistan High Commissioner and issued a ‘very strong demarche’.

 

We have called back our HIgh Commissioner in India for consultations.
He left New Delhi this morning .

— Dr Mohammad Faisal (@ForeignOfficePk) February 18, 2019

New Delhi had demanded ‘verifiable action’ against Jaish-e-Mohammed. Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale conveyed that Pakistan must take immediate and verifiable action against Jaish-e-Mohammed and that it must immediately stop groups or individuals associated with terrorism operating from its territories. India has rejected Foreign Ministry of Pakistan statement after the Pulwama attack. Islamabad has maintained that it was in any way not involved in the attack. "We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of Pakistan without investigations," the Foreign Office added. Moments after the attack, Jaish had taken the responsibility of the attack. Maulana Masood Azhar-led terror group released a video of suicide bomber Adil Ahmad Dar soon after the attack.

As India grapples with the shock and grief of the Pulwama terror attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week issued a stern warning to the terrorists and said they have to pay heavy price. Addressing the media in New Delhi after the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting, PM Modi said: “Our security forces have been given free hand. The forces behind this act of terrorism and those responsible for it, will be definitely be punished,” he said. “If our neighbour which is totally isolated in the world thinks it can destabilise India through its tactics and conspiracies, then it is making a big mistake,” PM Modi said without naming Pakistan.