US sorry over ‘mistreatment’ of Pakistan military delegation

The United States has apologised to Pakistan over “mistreatment” of a Pakistani military delegation at a US airport this week, the Pakistani defence ministry said Friday. US undersecretary of state for defence Michelle Flournoy apologised during a telephone call to Pakistan’s top defence ministry official, Syed Athar Ali, the ministry said in a statement. Flournoy “apologised for the mistreatment meted out to Pakistan’s military delegation at the Dulles airport, Washington”, the statement said. Pakistan had ordered the delegation to return from Washington to protest “unwarranted” airport security checks imposed after the delegation was invited to a meeting at the US military Central Command. “Syed Athar Ali expressed serious concern over the incident and emphasised the need for an institutionalised mechanism where such like incidents are averted,” the statement said. “Ms. Flournoy assured secretary defence that all necessary measures will be institutionalised after mutual consultations to avoid recurrence of any untoward incident in future.”