New Delhi, January 5
A special Indian Airlines flight returning from Islamabad touched base here today carrying 121 Indian nationals, including officials from the Indian High Commission in Pakistan.
The return of the officials follows the decision by New Delhi late last month to reduce by half the staff strength of the Indian mission in Islamabad as part of New Delhi’s diplomatic offensive against the hostile neighbour in the aftermath of the sensational attack on Parliament by Pakistan-backed terrorists.
Following the return of the officials, the Indian High Commission will function at half its strength. The decision to halve the staff strength was announced on December 27, 2001, and list of officials to be withdrawn were exchanged by both sides within 48 hours of the
announcement.
Launching the diplomatic initiative, New Delhi had hoped that Pakistan will desist from sponsoring cross-border terrorism and will take vigorous measures against the groups targeting India.
Meanwhile, India’s recalled High Commissioner to Pakistan Vijay Nambiar said the main problem of the recalled staffers was their children’s education which was disrupted in the middle of the academic session. “The ministry will take the responsibility for the continuity of education of the affected children. Emphasis will be on those children who are in classes IX to XII,” he said. He was speaking at Delhi airport.
Anjali Sharma and her brother Ashish Sharma, however, looked unruffled by the sudden turn of events. Anjali, who studied in ClassXI in Islamabad School of Art and Science, said she never felt any discrimination as an Indian in the school and had normal interaction with Pakistani children.
“They (Pakistanis) aired their government’s views and we reflected that of ours, but there was no animosity,” she said.
Two of the staffers, G.R. Pillai and S. Tyagi, were ebullient about the government’s decision. “It is a very good decision and we feel happy about it,” they said.
Meanwhile, a special Pakistani International Airlines flight left for Pakistan with 55 staffers of its high commission here and their families.
The Indian staffers arrived amid tight security arrangements and even their family members were not allowed to enter the lounge. A large number of mediapersons also had to wait outside as only a limited number of journalists were allowed to go inside the technical area.
Speaking to reporters at the Indira Gandhi International airport here, Pakistan High Commissioner to India Ashraf Jehangir Qazi said India and Pakistan were destined to be friends and Islamabad was hopeful that both countries would be able to solve the problems in their relationship through a dialogue “despite the present difficult situation”.
