Pakistan restricts movement of Indian envoys

LAHORE: Imposing new restrictions on the movement of Indian diplomats, Pakistan has barred them from travelling out of Islamabad without prior permission. As per the directive, diplomats will not be able to go to even Rawalpindi, just 15 minutes drive from the capital, or the nearby holiday resort of Murree as they could till now as per an agreement.

The move comes a week after Pakistan said its diplomats were not being allowed to move out of New Delhi and visit Noida and Gurgaon. Indian diplomats and the mission staff would also have to obtain permission to visit Murree, a hill resort about 50 km from Islamabad.

Meanwhile, India has failed to block the proposed US sale of a billion-dollar arms package to Pakistan, including TOW-2A Anti-Armour Guided Missiles and E-2C Hawkeye 2000 Airborne Early Warning System.

Sources in the Pakistani foreign office say that the US Congress will be going for its inaugural session on Thursday next and the deadline for any formal move to halt the deal would be over by next Sunday.

Sources claimed that the Indian lobby had failed to stop the Congress in July when it had approved F-16 plans for Pakistan Air Force.