India reduces Pak High Commission staff by 50%, to reciprocate

India on Tuesday said it has asked Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi to reduce by half the staff strength and has also decided to do the same at its mission in Islamabad. 

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the decision was taken as the behaviour of Pakistan and its officials is not in conformity with the Vienna Convention and bilateral agreements on the treatment of diplomatic and consular officials.

The Charge d’ Affaires of Pakistan was summoned on Tuesday to the Ministry of External Affairs and informed that India had repeatedly expressed concern about the activities of officials of his High Commission, a statement by the ministry said.

"They have been engaged in acts of espionage and maintained dealings with terrorist organizations. The activities of the two officials caught red-handed and expelled on 31 May 2020 was one example in that regard," the MEA said.

"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," the ministry said.

It cited the recent abduction at gunpoint of two Indian officials and their severe ill-treatment, which it said "underlines the extent to which Pakistan has gone in that direction."

These officials returned to India on June 22 and have provided graphic details of the barbaric treatment that they experienced at the hands of Pakistani agencies, the ministry statement further said. 

"The behaviour of Pakistan and its officials is not in conformity with the Vienna Convention and bilateral agreements on the treatment of diplomatic and consular officials. On the contrary, it is an intrinsic element of a larger policy of supporting cross-border violence and terrorism," it added.

The MEA said the Government of India has thus decided to reduce the staff strength in the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi by 50%. 

It would reciprocally reduce its presence in Islamabad to the same proportion. This decision has to be implemented in seven days and the same was conveyed to the Pakistani Charge d’Affaires.