Islamabad complains to Kabul after an Afghan diplomat disrespected Pakistan's anthem

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Islamabad has complained to Kabul after an Afghan diplomat failed to stand up when the Pakistani national anthem was played during an event in the country's northwest, officials said Wednesday.

The Foreign Ministry also summoned Ahmad Shakib, Afghanistan's chargé d’affaires and its most senior diplomat in Islamabad, in protest over the incident on Tuesday evening.

According to Pakistani officials, Mohibullah Shakir, the Afghan consul general in the northwestern city of Peshawar, remained seated when the anthem was intoned during an official ceremony.

The ministry spokesperson, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, said such disrespect of the host country’s anthem went against diplomatic norms.

The Afghan Consulate in Peshawar said in a statement that Shakir did not stand up because music was part of the anthem. Had the anthem been sung without music, Shakir would have stoop up in respect, the statement said.

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have banned music as part of restrictive measures and their harsh interpretation of Islamic, or Sharia, law that they imposed since seizing power in August 2021.

Since then, relations between Islamabad and Kabul have deteriorated. Pakistan alleges that Afghanistan's new rulers openly support the Pakistani Taliban, a militant group that has stepped up attack over the past years.