New Delhi: After alleging that its diplomats and their families were “harassed and intimidated” in New Delhi, Pakistan has called back it’s High Commissioner to India for a meeting.
Islamabad in a statement statement said that envoy Sohail Mahmood has been called for “consultations” after “no positive action had been taken by India”.
However, India has downplayed the development.
“Consultation is routine process between the embassy and the foreign office, it is nothing unusual.”
Pakistan had complained to the government that there had been many incidents of its officials and their families being harassed and “bullied” in Delhi. According to Islamabad, its Deputy High Commissioner’s car was chased and his driver was abused by a group of men.
Over the past few days, video footage and photos apparently of such incidents have been shown on Pakistani television channels.
On complaints from Islamabad, New Delhi had said last week that “India makes all efforts to provide a safe, secure and hospitable environment for diplomats to work in”, adding that Indian officials too faced “tremendous harassment” in that country but preferred to handle them with “quiet and persistent diplomacy” instead of flagging them in the media.
“Harassment is the new normal for Indian High Commission personnel in Islamabad,” the foreign ministry had said in a statement.
