The Pakistan High Commission has registered complaints of harassment with the External Affairs Ministry, which has assured them of an investigation. The complaint also alleged that several Indian mission staffers in Islamabad have been severely “harassed and intimidated”.
“Harassment is the new normal for Indian High Commission personnel in Islamabad. The High Commissioner’s car was recently stopped by Pakistani agencies in the middle of a busy road to prevent him from attending an event,” a source quoted as saying to FirstPost.
The complaint also pointed out that the Pakistan High Commission has brought to the Ministry of External Affair’s notice some incidents of alleged harassment for the past few days.
“India makes all efforts to provide a safe, secure and hospitable environment for diplomats to work in. Unfortunately, this cannot be said of Islamabad. The Indian High Commission in Pakistan has been facing tremendous harassment for long, particularly in the last year,” the source said.
“Aggressive surveillance, violation of physical space and tailing of officers in close and dangerous proximity is a perennial issue. Agency personnel keep shooting videos of the officers thrusting phones on their faces.
“Obscene phone calls and messages are constantly received on phones. In view of such an atmosphere of intimidation, most families have returned to India and children have been withdrawn from schools,” the source said.
The complaint also addressed an incident when an officer’s home was broken into and a laptop stolen. However, Indian diplomats chose to tackle this matter with quiet and persistent diplomacy rather than by airing issues in the media.