MUMBAI, 2 May 2008 — The government has identified a 4,000-square-meter parcel of land belonging to the Maharashtra Housing and Development Authority in the Mumbai suburb of Kalina for a Pakistani consulate. Pakistan’s consulate in Mumbai was shut down in 1992 after a diplomatic row.
A state Home Ministry official told Arab News that officials from the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi would visit the site shortly. If the Pakistani side approves the site, it would be sold according to the norms prescribed by the federal government for the construction of the consulate. A consulate in Mumbai would provide relief to thousands of Indians who currently visit New Delhi for visas to visit Pakistan. The opening of the Pakistani Deputy High Commission is within the framework of a bilateral accord reached three years ago, under which Pakistan will open a mission in Mumbai while India would set up its deputy high commission in Karachi.
