Guests at Indian Envoy’s Iftar Party "Turned Away" by Pakistan Officials

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New Delhi, June 2, 2019: Guests invited to an Iftar party hosted by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad were "aggressively" turned away by Pakistani officials on Saturday evening, a top Indian diplomat said.

The Pakistani officials surrounded Hotel Serena, the venue of the Iftar party, and forced hundreds of guests to turn back, news agency ANI reported quoting an unnamed source.

"We apologise to all our guests who were aggressively turned away from our Iftar yesterday. Such intimidatory tactics are deeply disappointing," Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria said.

Mr Bisaria said such tactics are counter-productive for bilateral ties. "They not only violate basic norms of diplomatic conduct and civilised behaviour, they are counter-productive for our bilateral relations," he said.

Some Pakistani officials reached out to the invitees from masked numbers and told them not to attend the Iftar party, ANI reported.

Saturday’s incident was not the first time Indian officials had faced harassment in the neighbouring country. Last month, India had raised concerns after two diplomats who were coordinating Sikh pilgrims at Gurdwara Sacha Sauda Gurdwara near Lahore were locked up in a room for over 20 minutes. The diplomats were threatened and told never return to the area.

Earlier this week, the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi also hosted an Iftar dinner, where several public personalities including writers, artists and Pakistani students had attended.