Reduce embassy staff by 50% in 7 days: India downgrades its diplomatic ties with Pakistan

The Ministry of External Affairs summoned Pakistan’s Charge d’ Affaires Syed Haidar Shah today and asked him to reduce staff at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi as India is concerned over their conduct. MEA officials informed Shah that India had repeatedly expressed concern about the activities of officials of his High Commission.

India has asked Pakistan to reduce staff at its High Commission in New Delhi by 50 per cent within seven days. It said it will also be reducing its workforce at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.

According to MEA representatives, the staff at the Pakistan High Commission has been “engaged in acts of espionage and maintained dealings with terrorist organizations”.

India pointed out the activities of the two Pakistan visa officials who were caught red-handed and expelled on May 31, 2020, after it emerged that they were spying.

The MEA also raised concern over the harassment of Indian officials in Pakistan. On June 15, Pakistani authorities detained two officials of the Indian high commission in Islamabad in a case of alleged “hit and run” and released them after over 10 hours following India’s strong demarche and a blunt message to Islamabad that the duo must be freed immediately.

“While their officials indulged in actions that are not in conformity with their privileged status in the High Commission, Pakistan has in parallel engaged in a sustained campaign to intimidate the officials of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad from carrying on their legitimate diplomatic functions,” MEA representatives said.

India said that once the abducted Indian officials returned home on June 22, they provided graphic details of the barbaric treatment that they experienced at the hands of Pakistani agencies.