Pakistan's High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood is unlikely to return anytime soon reported The Express Tribune, quoting a Pakistan Foreign Ministry official. Pakistan has reportedly decided to not send the High Commissioner back until the “overall situation regarding treatment of diplomatic staff and their families is resolved”.
The Pakistan High Commissioner was called for consultations and it is "normal and routine and not a recall", the Ministry of External Affairs said on 15 March after the neighbouring country decided to call back its envoy to Islamabad.
The Pakistan High Commissioner has been called back to his country for consultations. It’s pretty normal and routine. It’s not a recall.Raveesh Kumar, MEA Spokesperson
The Pakistan government called back its High Commissioner in India Sohail Mahmood for consultation to Islamabad over what it said were incidents of harassment of its High Commission staff in the Indian capital.
Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said they will hold consultations with the High Commissioner over "recent incidents of harassing of their diplomats".
Earlier, the Pakistan high commission alleged that the children of a senior diplomat were harassed and intimidated by Indian officials while they were on their way to school.
On 18 March, officials at the Indian High Commission in Pakistan were followed by unidentified people in a car in close proximity in an intimidating manner, reported ANI quoting sources.
ANI quoted sources who said, “Website of Indian HC continues to be intermittently blocked causing inconvenience and affecting the normal functioning of the Mission. We've asked Pakistan govt to investigate these incidents and ensure such incidents don't recur and share result of investigation with us.”
Faisal claimed that the Indian government had not taken measures to safeguard Pakistani diplomats and their families in India.
Asked what steps New Delhi took following Pakistani protests, Raveesh Kumar said: "We do not want to respond to these issues through the media but through established diplomatic channels. At this stage what I can share with you is that we are looking into the issues which have been raised by their side."
He also said that the Indian High Commission in Pakistan was facing “a litany of issues” which have not been resolved for several months.
He said India raised these issues in good faith through diplomatic channels and not through the media.
"We have asked for immediate resolution of these issues faced by our High Commission in Islamabad so that the safety and security of the diplomatic mission and our diplomatic and consular officials is assured,” said Kumar.
We would like our mission to function normally without any obstruction or harassment in keeping with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961.MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar
The hostility stemmed from the incident when the under-construction residential complex of Indian diplomats were raided in Islamabad by the Pakistani spy agency ISI, reported Times of India quoting sources.
(With inputs from IANS, Express Tribune)
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