Pakistan condemns expulsion of two diplomats by India
Pakistan condemned India over declaring two Pakistan High Commission officials persona non grata.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - Pakistan on Sunday condemned the Indian government’s decision to declare two officials of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi persona non grata requiring them to leave India within 24 hours, Dunya News reported.
Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said in a statement that the Indian action has been accompanied by a negative pre-planned and orchestrated media campaign, which is a part of persistent anti-Pakistan propaganda.
She said that two staff members of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi were lifted by the Indian authorities on Sunday on false and unsubstantiated charges. They were, however, released on intervention by the High Commission. "We condemn the detention and torture as well as threatening and pressuring of the diplomatic officials to accept false charges," she said.
The spokesperson said Pakistan strongly rejected the baseless Indian allegations and deplored the Indian action which was in clear violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations as well as the norms of diplomatic conduct especially in an already vitiated atmosphere.
The spokesperson said the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi had always worked within the parameters of international law and diplomatic norms. The Indian action is clearly aimed at shrinking diplomatic space for the working of Pakistan High Commission, she added.
She said the Indian attempts to escalate the tensions would not succeed in diverting attention either from the ongoing internal and external issues faced by the BJP government or from the worsening situation and gross human rights violations being perpetrated by the Indian occupation forces in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K).
"Pakistan urges the international community to take notice of the Indian designs and play its role in ensuring peace and security in South Asia," she added.
