Epitome of diplomacy: Pak's ex-diplomats

Islamabad/Lahore, July 2

Satinder Lambah was an “epitome of diplomacy” and if Pakistan and India can ever forge peaceful relations, its credit will also go to the veteran Indian diplomat, ex-Foreign Minister of Pakistan Khurshed Kasuri said on Saturday.

He said the foundation that Lambah laid in the form of back-channel diplomacy would eventually bear fruit one day. “I offer my deepest condolences to the family. His efforts for peace between India and Pakistan will long be remembered.”

Former Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan was Pakistan’s point person between 2010 and 2013 for interactions with Lambah, as the two sides made a vain epic effort to untangle their complex relationship by trying to address, among others, the Kashmir issue. In a telephonic interview, Khan, recalled his first meeting with Lambah in January 2010. “ I am deeply saddened by his passing away. I have immense respect for him and his efforts. Lambah was a great diplomat and a man of peace who cared a lot for our region,” he said. Former Foreign Secretary Shamshad Ahmad Khan termed the death an irreparable loss to the peace diplomacy between Pakistan and India. “Lambah was among those people of Indian Foreign Service who could be called as epitome of diplomacy,” he said.