Pak summons Indian Deputy High Commissioner; lodges protest

The Foreign Office conveyed its "serious concerns" to Deputy High Commissioner Gopal Baglay over yesterday's incident in Delhi in which First Secretary Zirgham Raza and his driver Haider Zaman were allegedly "physically abused".

The Indian diplomat was "informed that such incidents are uncalled for, unnecessary and do not augur well for the overall bilateral relations, especially at a time when the leadership of the two countries is desirous of improving and normalizing relations", said a statement from Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry.

The statement said the Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai had called his Pakistani counterpart earlier today to "express his regrets over this unfortunate incident and assured him that the matter would be thoroughly investigated".

However, Ministry of External Affairs sources said in New Delhi that no regret was expressed as it was a matter of an accident.

"Ranjan Mathai explained to his counterpart that this was a traffic accident," a source said adding the call was made because the Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan was in New Delhi and the Pakistani High Commissioner to India was in his country.

The statement quoted the Indian Foreign Secretary as saying that two persons involved in the incident had been arrested and an FIR had been lodged.