New Delhi, Jun 23: India on Tuesday summoned Pakistan High Commission’s Charge d’ Affaires Syed Haidar Shah and informed him about the government’s decision to reduce the strength of staff by 50 per cent here as the officials have found to be involved in acts of espionage and maintained dealings with militant organisations.
India will also reduce its presence in Islamabad to the same proportion. The decision will be implemented in seven days. ‘Charge d’ Affaires of Pakistan was summoned today to the Ministry of External Affairs and informed that India had repeatedly expressed concern about the activities of officials of his High Commission,’ the Ministry said in a statement here.
On May 31, two officials of Pakistan High Commission were caught red-handed and expelled in espionage case. “While their officials indulged in actions that are not in conformity with their privileged status in the High Commission, Pakistan has in parallel engaged in a sustained campaign to intimidate the officials of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad from carrying on their legitimate diplomatic functions,” it added.
The Ministry also said 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. These officials, who have returned to India on June 22, have provided graphic details of the barbaric treatment that they experienced at the hands of Pakistani agencies.
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, it said.
