New Delhi: India on Tuesday summoned Pakistan High Commission Charge d’ Affaires Syed Hyder Shah for the second time and issued a strong demarche on the abduction and torture of Indian High Commission officials in Islamabad on Monday morning.
India also lodged a strong protest on the issue.
“Two officials of the Indian High Commission were forcibly abducted by Pakistani agencies on June 15 and kept in illegal custody for more than 10 hours,” Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said in a statement.
They were released only after strong intervention by the High Commission of India in Islamabad and the Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi.
“The two Indian officials were subjected to interrogation, torture and physical assault resulting in grievous injuries to them. They were video-graphed and coerced to accept a litany of fictitious allegations and concocted charges,” he added.
The vehicle of the High Commission, in which they were travelling, was extensively damaged, the spokesperson said .
India strongly condemns and deplores the action of the Pakistani authorities in this regard.
“This premeditated, grave and provocative action on the part of the Pakistani authorities, preceded by intensified surveillance, harassment and intimidation of High Commission personnel over the past several days, was designed to obstruct and disrupt the normal functioning of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad,” he added.
The attempt by Pakistani authorities to levy false accusations and concocted charges on the officials of the High Commission is rejected in entirety, the spokesperson added.
India also said that Pakistan not only constitute an egregious violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 as also the ‘Code of Conduct for treatment of Diplomatic and Consular personnel in India and Pakistan signed in 1992 and reaffirmed by both sides in March 2018, but are also against all established norms and practices of diplomatic conduct.
“Our grave concerns at the fact that the Pakistan agencies threatened to physically harm more officials of the Indian Mission have been shared. It has been highlighted that Pakistan is responsible for the safety and security of the Indian High Commission, its officials, staff members, their families and properties,” he added.
“Such continued unilateral actions by Pakistan, aimed at escalating tensions, will not succeed in diverting attention from the core issue of Pakistan’s continued hostile activities and sponsorship of cross-border terrorism against India,” the spokesperson said.
