ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner J P Singh to lodge a protest over fresh allegations that Indian spy agencies are harassing members of its diplomatic mission in New Delhi.
“The officers, staff and more regrettably the families and children of the
Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi continue to face intense harassment, intimidation and outright violence from the Indian state agencies,” said Dr
Muhammad Faisal, the
Foreign Office spokesperson and Director General of South Asia and
Saarc, in a statement. “These have escalated exponentially in the last few days,” he said.
The spokesperson pointed out that under the Vienna Convention, the safety and the security of Pakistani diplomats and their families is the responsibility of the Indian Government. “The total apathy and failure of the Indian Government to put a halt to these despicable incidents, sparing not even young children, indicates both a lack of capacity to protect foreign diplomats posted in India or a more reprehensible, complicit unwillingness to do so,” he said.
Faisal said the harassment was not confined to a single isolated event. The latest, he said was on Wednesday when the car carrying a Pakistani counsellor's children returning from school, was followed by unknown persons on cars and motorcycles. “They were harassed, intimidated and their vehicle was blocked,” the Foreign Office said.
“For psychological intimidation, videos and photographs of the children were constantly shot for 40 minutes, leaving the children extremely traumatised. They were followed up to their residence.”
The drivers of the high commission were forcibly stopped and their mobile phones forcibly switched off to prevent them from contacting anyone, he alleged.
Giving details of previous incidents, the spokesperson said, “The protest lodged by our High Commissioner with the Indian Foreign Secretary, instead of ameliorating the situation, was followed by further harassment of the officers of the High Commission, stoppage of provision of gas to the High Commission Residential Complex and threatening of contractors/staff working in the High Commission.”
The harassment continues unabated despite repeated official protests lodged with the Indian Ministry of External Affairs at the highest level, the spokesperson said.
