Anger has been brewing among Pakistan’s foreign service community since the country’s Prime Minister Imran Khan rebuked them publicly for what he said their “colonial” mindset while dealing with the expatriate community. 

Khan had earlier said, “Indifferent attitude is unforgivable, unacceptable,” and telling the officers to give up their “colonial mindset” and extend special treatment to the expatriate communities.

Dawn reported Khan’s comment hasn’t gone down well with foreign service officers, and they feel “demoralized” thereafter. One of the service officers, speaking to Dawn, said Khan’s own presentation of the issue expressed his lack of understanding of our work. Though he acknowledged the problem faced by the overseas communities.

Khan’s scathing criticism of the foreign services led a couple of former foreign secretaries to denounce his remark publicly.  
 
Tehmina Janjua, a former foreign secretary, took to Twitter and wrote: “Deeply dismayed at the unwarranted criticism of the Foreign Ministry. There seems to be woefully inadequate understanding of Embassies’ consular work, the acute resource constraints, and the role of multiple departments which [are] not under the control of Ambassadors.”

Salman Bashir, another former foreign secretary, called the Khan’s criticism “misplaced”. 

“Usual services to the community are essentially in the domain of other departments that handle passports, nicop, consular attestation etc. Yes the missions should keep their doors open,” he wrote on Twitter. 

In his address to envoys, Khan had lauded the “proactive” and “efficient” functioning of Indian embassies.