Islamabad:
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday that it was investigating an incident in which the Pakistani ambassador to Turkmenistan, Ahsan Wagan, was denied entry to the United States and returned by the American authorities.
In a statement, the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Wagan was not on an official visit to the United States but was traveling in private.
“Responding to media speculation concerning non-entry and the return of a Pakistani diplomat from the United States, the spokesman said that the officer had traveled for a private visit. The case is the subject of a investigation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” the statement said.
The statement did not specify why the Pakistani diplomat was denied entry, but urged people to avoid speculation on the issue.
The incident occurred on Monday at Los Angeles International Airport in California.
Ahsan Wagan is from Naushahro Feroze, Sindh, and joined Pakistan’s external service in 1996. After serving at the Foreign Affairs Bureau at the start of his career, he was posted as the second secretary at the Pakistani Embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal (2000-2004).
Wagan also served in the United States. From 2006 to 2009, he was the assistant consul general of the Pakistani consulate in Los Angeles.
He was then head of the deputy mission in Oman (2009-2013) and chief mission at the Pakistan Embassy in Niger (2015-2019).
After that, he was appointed Pakistan ambassador to Muscat (2019-2022). After his return to Islamabad in 2022, he was director general of Pakistani abroad, consular affairs and the crisis management unit at Foreign Office.
Diplomatic sources have called the “unprecedented” incident because Wagan had complete documentation, but he was refused entry.
A FO source told L’Express PK Press Club that, as Wagan was on a private visit, he had not benefited from diplomatic privileges.
The source explained that if a diplomat travels during an official visit, they receive a protocol, but if not, they are not granted from diplomatic privileges.
However, the source confirmed that Wagan had informed and obtained permission from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before going to the United States. It is compulsory for any diplomat to request prior approval before visiting another country privately.
According to sources, the judgment of a diplomat in this way suggests the presence of a “red flag”, which is currently under investigation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
They also noted that even with a valid visa, American immigration agents have the power to allow or refuse entry to a traveler.
Wagan’s case has surfaced in the middle of the reports that Pakistan could be included in a list of countries subject to a potential American travel ban.
However, no official announcement has yet been made.
The reuters news agency, citing sources, said that Pakistan was one of the countries planned for the ban. However, the Minister of State at Law and Justice Barrister Aqeel rejected reports on Monday, insisting that they were false.
