Pakistan to call back envoy from France, which they don't have

Pakistan's national assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution to call back its envoy from Paris. The post of envoy is vacant for the last three months. Pakistan does not have an ambassador in France.Pakistan's last ambassador to France, Moin-ul Haq, left the European nation three months ago as he was transferred to China.Since then, Pakistan has not sent a replacement for Haq to Paris. Interestingly, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was one of the movers of the resolution in the national assembly. Meanwhile, Pakistan on Monday summoned the French ambassador in Islamabad, a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan accused French President Emmanuel Macron of attacking Islam by defending the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

France has called the controversy and calls for boycott unjustified as these are based on "baseless" narrative of the statement made by French President Macron. It said the boycott calls are being "pushed by a radical minority". France has appealed to the Middle-East countries to end the boycott calls over Macron's secular legislation plan and defence of freedom of expression.However, there is no relent in the stance taken by Macron, who took to Twitter to reaffirm that his country will "not give in" to pressures to suppress the idea of freedom of expression.