ISLAMABAD: Pakistan summoned senior Indian diplomat and a demarche was handed over for declaring two officials of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi persona non grata and rejected the allegations of espionage leveled against them.
"The Indian charge d'affaires was summoned to the Foreign Office for a strong demarche, conveying Pakistan's condemnation of the Indian decision to declare two officials of the High Commission for Pakistan in New Delhi persona non grata and rejection of all baseless Indian allegations against the High Commission officials," Foreign Office spokesperson Aisha Farroqui said.
She said that it was conveyed to the Indian side that New Delhi's action was in clear violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the diplomatic norms.
The top Indian diplomat was summoned late Sunday after Modi government declared two officials of the Pakistan's High Commission persona non grata allegedly for "indulging in espionage activities" and also demarched Pakistan's charge d'affaires on Sunday.
The two officials of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi returned to Pakistan on Monday via Wagah border crossing, sources said.
Pakistan and India routinely expel each other's diplomatic staff on charges of espionage. In 2016, Pakistan expelled an Indian diplomatic staff, Surjeet Singh, a spokesperson for the Indian High Commission in Islamabad that time, in a tit-for-tat India's move of expelling a Pakistani diplomat.
However, this time around, the government is yet to come up with a public statement whether or not to expel any diplomatic staffer of the Indian High Commission.
The Foreign Office on Sunday condemned India's decision to declare two officials of the High Commission for Pakistan in New Delhi persona non grata, asking them to leave India within 24 hours.
"The Indian action has been accompanied by a negative pre-planned and orchestrated media campaign, which is a part of persistent anti-Pakistan propaganda," Aisha Farooqui said, adding that the two staff members of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi were lifted by the Indian authorities on May 31 2020 on false and unsubstantiated charges. "They were, however, released on intervention by the High Commission. We condemn the detention and torture as well as threatening and pressuring of the diplomatic officials to accept false charges," she added. Earlier in August 2019, Pakistan downgraded its diplomatic ties with India and expelled its high commissioner Ajay Bisaria to protest against Modi government's illegal annexation of occupied Jammu and Kashmir and also called back Pakistan's High Commissioner from New Delhi, besides suspending two-way trade.
Comments
Comments are closed.