ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office on Tuesday rejected Indian allegations that its staff in Islamabad’s embassy in New Delhi was engaged in espionage, responding to an announcement by India earlier in the day that it intended to expel half the Pakistani embassy staff in New Delhi over alleged spying.
Relations between the nuclear-armed rivals have been tense for decades and the reciprocal expulsion of diplomats, often on spying charges, is not uncommon. India expelled two Pakistani diplomats on May 31 after they were held for alleged spying, claims Islamabad has called “baseless”.
“Pakistan categorically rejects and strongly condemns the baseless allegations made by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs as a pretext to seek 50% reduction in the staff strength of the High Commission for Pakistan in New Delhi,” the foreign office said in a statement.
“Pakistan completely dismisses allegations of any violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations by the officials of the High Commission for Pakistan in New Delhi and reiterates that they always function within the parameters of international law and diplomatic norms.”
The foreign office also said Pakistan rejected Indian allegations that Indian High Commission officials in Islamabad were being intimidated.
“The Indian Government’s smear campaign against Pakistan cannot obfuscate the illegal activities in which the Indian High Commission officials were found involved in,” the statement said.
The foreign office added that it had summoned the Indian Chargé d’ Affaires in Islamabad to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday to convey Pakistan’s rejection of all allegations.
“The Indian Chargé d’ Affaires was also informed of Pakistan’s decision to reduce the Indian High Commission’s staff strength by 50% as a reciprocal measure,” the statement said. “The Chargé d’ Affaires was asked to implement the decision conveyed to him within seven days.”
Pakistan also said India’s latest actions were an attempt to divert attention from human rights violations in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Kashmir has long been a flashpoint between the neighbors but tension was renewed after New Delhi withdrew the autonomy of the Himalayan region last August and split it into federally-administered territories.
Both countries claim the region in full, but rule only parts, and often accuse each other of breaching a 2003 cease-fire pact by shelling and firing across the Line of Control (LoC), an informal border in Kashmir, and of killing dozens every year.
“India would be better advised to focus on its internal and external issues, rather than creating diversions at the cost of peace and stability in South Asia,” the Pakistani statement said.
Last week, Pakistani authorities released two Indian High Commission officials after briefly detaining them over an alleged car accident.
Indian media reported last Monday that two Indian High Commission officials had gone missing in Islamabad while out on official work.
Islamabad Police arrested the two Indian officials in a hit and run case on Monday morning, Pakistani police said, in an incident in which a pedestrian was injured while the drivers tried to flee.
According to Pakistani police, the pedestrian was critically injured and shifted to a hospital for treatment. A huge crowd of people stopped the car and handed over the two men to Islamabad Police, where they were identified as officials of the high commission.
Indian media reported the arrest of the officials as a reciprocal action by Islamabad over New Delhi expelling two officials of the Pakistani High Commission in Delhi over accusations of espionage on May 31. Pakistan has rejected the charge as “false and unsubstantiated.”
