Travel restrictions on Pak diplomats from May 1: US from buzai232's blog

A senior official of the Trump administration has confirmed that Washington will impose travel restrictions on Pakistani diplomats in the US from May 1, stating that they would not be allowed to move freely without permission from relevant authorities in the state department.To get more America News, you can visit shine news official website. In an interview with Voice of America’s (VOA’s) Uzbek service, under secretary of state for political affairs Thomas Shannon said this restriction was placed in response to the same conditions imposed by Islamabad on US diplomats in Pakistan.

The Trump administration had recently communicated to Islamabad that its diplomats stationed at their embassy in Washington and at consulates in other cities would seek permission at least five days ahead of an intended travel beyond 40km from their offices. “Our diplomats are under travel restrictions. They can travel further than 40km, but they have to notify the government of Pakistan. It’s very common in diplomacy,”Shannon said. According to Pakistani authorities, they have not imposed any travel restrictions on US diplomats but have taken security measures intended to protect them.

They argue that the state department also does not allow its diplomats in Pakistan to visit volatile tribal regions bordering Afghanistan, Karachi and certain other places out of security concerns. In the VOA interview, the US official also stressed the need for Pakistan to step up pressure on militants, who still have a presence in the country. When the interviewer asked that Central Asian countries wanted the US to “bring pressure on Pakistan” on this issue, Shannon said, “I understand, but we’re not the only big partner.

China is a very important partner and especially for Pakistan.” When asked if Russia could also influence the decision-making process in Islamabad, he said, “It’s not as bigger a partner as China is for Pakistan because Russia has a conflicted history in that region. But the US will be very happy to have a larger conversation with Russia about this also.” Shannon said that Islamabad also needed to understand the concerns of Central Asian countries about “remnants” of militancy in Pakistan. “I’m not sure how much we can help that process because this is really something that the Pakistanis have to understand,” he said.