Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s speech in Pakistan during the SAARC ministerial meet in Islamabad was not blacked out, the External Affairs Ministry says.
“Insofar as the practices regarding the live coverage of such SAARC meetings is concerned, this was clarified yesterday [Friday] and we would naturally defer to the SAARC Secretariat in such matters,” said Vikas Swarup, Ministry spokesperson, referring to a statement on the media blackout.
“The point at issue is that a number of you had applied for visas but did not get visas. Naturally this restrictive approach by Pakistan even for a multilateral event is not helpful in promoting close ties between SAARC countries,” Mr. Swarup said.
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Despite Mr. Singh’s reluctance to discuss Pakistani hospitality (mehman nawazi), his visit to Pakistan contrasted with the visit of his predecessor P. Chidambaram in 2010 and received a full ceremonial welcome.
(With agency inputs)