Pakistan High Commission, diplomats' security is India's responsibility: FO

Pakistan High Commission, diplomats' security is India's responsibility: FO
Updated on

Summary Pakistan's Deputy High Commissioner to India raised the issue with Ministry of External Affairs.

NEW DELHI (Web Desk) – Pakistan’s Foreign Office has demanded of Indian authorities to thoroughly investigate the letters to find out who sent them to Pakistan High Commission.

Islamabad conveyed to India diplomatically that it was New Delhi's responsibility to ensure the security of Pakistan High Commission and all its diplomats and other staff.

On Tuesday Indian media quoted as official sources confirmed that the Pakistan High Commission has received ‎letters in the past few days threatening to harm Pakistan officials.

Pakistan's deputy high commissioner to India took up the matter with the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Tuesday.

Pakistan has demanded that the letters be thoroughly probed and the identity of the sender be ascertained. It conveyed to India diplomatically that it was New Delhi's responsibility to ensure the security of Pakistan High Commission and all its diplomats and other staff.

An Indian government source here said one threat letter had been received from Pakistan high commission and that security authorities had been sensitized about the matter. "We provide maximum possible security to all missions and same is the case with Pakistan," he said. There was no confirmation about who sent the letters threatening to harm Pakistani diplomats.

The development comes in the middle of the ongoing general elections in which Pakistan has willy-nilly become a part of the strenuous campaign being followed by both BJP and Congress. The 2 parties came together recently to slam a statement by Pakistan interior minister Chaudhary Nisar Khan that Modi as prime minister would not be good for peace in the region.

Khan said Modi as India's PM would "destabilize regional peace" because be had not learnt any lesson from his "shameful" acts as Gujarat chief minister. This was after Modi said that he would try and bring underworld don Dawood Ibrahim back to India. The BJP also asked Pakistan to "mend its ways".

Modi himself though has spoken about the importance of building trust with Pakistan. "We should not be constrained by what has happened in the past if the present throws up new possibilities in terms of solutions," he said.

Pakistan was also angry with India last week for refusing to give visas to over 500 Pakistani pilgrims who wanted to visit the Ajmer shrine. While India regretted the development saying it wasn't possible to ensure security for the pilgrims at the time of elections, Pakistan protested officially saying that this was the 4th time India had rejected visas for Ajmer pilgrims in the past 1 year.

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