New Delhi: A day after two Indian officials who had been taken into Pakistani custody returned home, India ordered the Pakistan high commission in New Delhi to halve the strength of its staff size, and said it was taking similar steps to downsize its own mission in Islamabad.
The last time India took such a decision was after the 2001 parliament attack. The sanctioned strength of the two missions, currently stands at 110.
The two high commissions have already been headless for over a year, with India having first recalled its high commissioner for consultations after the terrorist attack in Pulwama in February 2019. Pakistan then expelled the Indian envoy after India changed the constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019.
Also read: Pak Rejects India’s Statement on Arrest of 2 Indian High Commission Officials
The statement issued by Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday said that the two Indians who returned “have provided graphic details of the barbaric treatment that they experienced at the hands of Pakistani agencies”.
The latest strain in relations began when India expelled two Pakistani high commission officials on May 31 for “indulging in espionage activities”.
The MEA also accused Pakistan of carrying out a “sustained campaign to intimidate the officials of the Indian high commission in Islamabad from carrying on their legitimate diplomatic functions”.
Also read: Five Indian High Commission Officials Return From Pakistan
It asserted that the “recent abduction at gunpoint of two Indian officials and their severe ill treatment underlines the extent to which Pakistan has gone in that direction”. A fortnight after two Pakistani officials were expelled, the two Indians officials were picked up and accused of being involved in an accident and having transported fake currency.
On Monday, five Indian high commission officials, including two who were abducted, returned through the Wagah border post.
“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,” said the MEA statement.
Also read: India Expels Two Pakistani High Commission Officials for ‘Espionage Activities’
The Indian foreign ministry said that the Pakistani chargé d’affaires Syed Haidar Shah was summoned and told that the Indian government “has taken the decision to reduce the staff strength in the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi by 50%”.
“It would reciprocally reduce its own presence in Islamabad to the same proportion,” it said, adding that this would have to be implemented in seven days.
Pakistan’s response
A few hours later, the Pakistani foreign ministry issued a statement rejecting the “insinuations of intimidation of Indian High Commission officials in Islamabad”. “The MEA’s statement is another effort to distort facts and deny the culpability of these Indian High Commission officials in criminal offences,” it stated.
The Indian chargé d’affaires, Gaurav Ahluwalia, was summoned to the foreign ministry and informed of “Pakistan’s decision to reduce the Indian high commission’s staff strength by 50% as a reciprocal measure”.
Pakistan said that that the Indian action was part of “desperate attempts to divert attention from its state-terrorism and worst human rights violations” in Kashmir.