Pakistan condemns India’s expulsion of two diplomats

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has strongly condemned the Indian government’s decision to declare two officials of Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi as persona non grata, requiring them to leave India within 24 hours.

Foreign Office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui in a statement said the Indian action has been accompanied by a negative pre-planned and orchestrated media campaign, which is a part of persistent anti-Pakistan propaganda.

She said the two staff members of Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi were lifted by Indian authorities yesterday on false and unsubstantiated charges. They were, however, released on intervention by the High Commission.

The spokesperson condemned the detention and torture as well as threatening and pressuring of the diplomatic officials to accept false charges.

She said Pakistan strongly rejects the baseless Indian allegations and deplores the Indian action which is in clear violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations as well as the norms of diplomatic conduct especially in an already vitiated atmosphere.

The spokesperson added that Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi has always worked within parameters of international law and diplomatic norms.

Meanwhile, Indian Charge d’Affaires was summoned to Foreign Office in Islamabad for a strong demarche over declaring two officials of Pakistan High Commission persona non grata.

In a statement, Foreign Office spokesperson said the demarche conveyed Pakistan’s condemnation of the Indian decision to declare two officials of Pakistan’s High Commission in New Delhi as persona non grata and rejection of all baseless Indian allegations against the High Commission.

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs on Sunday sais two officials at Pakistan’s High Commission in New Delhi were being expelled for “espionage activities”.

“The government has declared both these officials persona non grata for indulging in activities incompatible with their status as members of a diplomatic mission,” the ministry said in a statement.