Pak nominates consul general of Mumbai consulate

Pakistan Monday named senior diplomat Jauhar Saleem as consul general of its Mumbai consulate, paving the way for the re-opening of the consulates in Karachi and Mumbai in January 2006 after a gap of 13 years.

Pakistan Foreign Office has named Saleem, the director of its Europe division as its consul general and his name has been forwarded to the Indian government through its high commission in New Delhi to finalise an agreement, an official in Islamabad said.

India has already nominated Navdeb Suri as its consul general in Karachi and reportedly forwarded his name to Pakistan government Monday.

Earlier, Foreign Office spokesperson, Tasnim Aslam said both governments were currently in touch with each other to reopen the consulates early 2006.

She told a media briefing in Islamabad that Pakistan had identified some sites for its consulate in Mumbai, adding that both consulates would start working from beginning of 2006.

Both governments had committed themselves to reopen the consulates closed since 1992 by January 1, 2006, during President Pervez Musharraf's visit to India in April.

The consulates were expected to begin functioning with 20-member staff in the beginning.

A senior Indian diplomat Gitesh Sarma visited Karachi last week to supervise arrangements to reopen the Indian consulate there.

The opening of consulates was considered to be a major diplomatic triumph for the current peace process, which began with the declaration of ceasefire in 2003 followed by two rounds of composite dialogue process covering Kashmir and seven other contentious issues.