WASHINGTON: The US State Department said on Thursday that Washington and Islamabad had successfully resolved the dispute over travel restrictions placed on American diplomats in Pakistan.
Asked if the dispute with Pakistan over travel restrictions had been resolved, the department's spokesperson Victoria Nuland said: “My understanding is it has, yes.”Last week, the US launched fresh efforts to convince Pakistan's security establishment to ease travel restrictions on its diplomats and review a decision of expelling American military trainers.
Diplomatic sources in Washington confirmed that both issues were discussed in a meeting last week between US Ambassador Cameron Munter and Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi.
According to these sources, US diplomats will no longer be required to carry a no objection certificate while travelling outside Islamabad.
The diplomats, however, will have to carry their identity cards with them every time they left the embassy, the sources said.
Pakistani diplomats in the US also have to carry similar identity papers with them.
At the State Department, spokesperson Nuland also indicated, although indirectly, that US diplomats in Pakistan would have to carry their identity cards with them while travelling.
“When I was posted in Belgium many times, I carried an identity card,” she said.
Asked if she had to carry an ID card while travelling inside Belgium, Ms Nuland said: “I don't think my personal experience is relevant in this case. But the issue of whether diplomats have to carry identity cards is — it is common practice in many countries.”
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