When 'delicacy of diplomacy' is lost

Abdul Basit retired as Pakistan's High Commissioner to India after having served 3 yrs in New Delhi

Abdul Basit, who recently retired as Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India after having served three years in New Delhi, has sent an official letter to Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States and former foreign secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, saying that he was “the worst foreign secretary ever”. Dated July 5, 2017 and written on the letterhead of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, the letter appeared on social media on Tuesday. It was a reply to Chaudhry’s valedictory letter as foreign secretary in March. “My concern is that you would… end up being the worst Pakistan ambassador in Washington DC,” Basit wrote. “The reasons are simple. First, you are not made for the delicate profession of diplomacy.” The second reason he cites is Chaudhry’s “heart is not in the right place”. Basit lists two “failures” of Chaudhry, both related to India — “the Ufa Joint Statement and Pakistan’s humiliating defeat at the Human Rights Council”.