For second time in 5 days, India complain to Pakistan about harassment of diplomats

india

Updated: Mar 20, 2019 21:24 IST

India has formally complained to the Pakistan government about four more instances of its diplomats and officials in Islamabad being harassed by security personnel amid downturn in bilateral ties following the Pulwama terror attack last month.

In a note verbale – an unsigned diplomatic correspondence – submitted to Pakistan’s foreign ministry on March 18, the Indian high commission in Islamabad detailed the incidents that occurred last week and sought an investigation, people familiar with developments said.

The note said the Indian naval adviser was “aggressively tailed” by two Pakistani personnel in a car while he was travelling from his home to the mission on March 15. On the previous day, two Pakistani security personnel were seen keeping watch outside the naval adviser’s home when he hosted a dinner, the note added.

On March 14, a Pakistani personnel behaved in an “intimidatory manner” with a staff member of the high commission while he was engaged in certain official work. Two other personnel of the high commission had been receiving “hoax calls” from two different numbers, the note further said.

The high commission sought an investigation into these incidents and asked that the Pakistani agencies should be instructed that similar incidents do not occur in future, the people said. The note mentioned that such incidents of harassment of officials violate the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

In another note verbale submitted on March 13, the high commission had complained of more than 15 instances of harassment of its diplomats and officials, including aggressive tailing and a visit by security personnel to an ill official admitted to hospital.