Islamabad: Maintaining that no decision has yet been taken on the appointment of a High Commissioner to India, Pakistan Foreign Office on May 19 said Premier Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali was misquoted in the reports that said Ambassador to China Riaz Muhammad Khan will take over the key diplomatic slot.

"I think the Prime Minister was not quoted accurately. That is why we had to say what we did say. No decision as yet has been taken in this regard," Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Aziz Ahmed Khan said.

Answering a spate of questions on series of contradictory reports over the appointment, the spokesman said, "I do not have the text of the Prime Minister's interview with me. All I can tell you is that no decision as yet has been taken about the High Commissioner. Once it is taken we will let you know."

"There are certain protocols which have to be observed. Normal diplomatic procedure is that once the head of the government takes the decision, it would be communicated for the agreement of the other government," he said, adding that a simultaneous announcement would be made only after an acceptance from the other country is received.

"Before that if anything appeared in the press, it would be purely speculative," he said. "A High Commissioner has to be appointed. Once he will be appointed, you will get to know about it."

Meanwhile, Indian official sources said on May 19 that it has not yet received the mandatory request from Pakistan seeking acceptance of its new envoy.

It is the normal practice that an official announcement of appointment of Ambassadors or High Commissioners is made after getting the consent of the concerned government.

"The name has not been sent to us by Pakistan," the sources said when asked about the confusion in Islamabad following the announcement of the "appointment" of Pakistan's Ambassador to China, Riaz Muhammad Khan, as the new envoy to India.

Pakistan Premier Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, during the course of an interview to the Worldview programme on Doordarshan, made the announcement, state-run PTV reported on May 17.

PTI