Indian police harass Pak diplomats in New Delhi

NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD: Tensions between India and Pakistan continued to rise after reports emerged on Tuesday of employees of the Pakistan High Commission being harassed in New Delhi, reported Geo News.

A heavy contingent of police officials reportedly surrounded the High Commission in the Indian capital in an apparent attempt to harass the Pakistani diplomats stationed there.

Meanwhile, a resolution was submitted in the Punjab Assembly against the harassment of the diplomatic staff in New Delhi. The resolution, submitted by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Komal Sameera, stated that plain-clothed individuals harassed Pakistani diplomats in New Delhi.

“Three members of the staff were stopped and harassed. India is continually violating international rules. The Indian High Commission staff should be immediately expelled,” it said. It further said that the Pakistani staff in India should be recalled at once.

The development came in the wake of Islamabad Police arresting two employees of the Indian High Commission a day earlier for attempting to flee after running over a man and critically injuring him. Eyewitnesses had said a BMW vehicle hit a pedestrian who was walking on Embassy Road and attempted to flee. The pedestrian was critically injured and shifted to a hospital for treatment. A crowd of people stopped the car and handed over the two men to Islamabad Police. The accused diplomats were identified as Paul Selvadhas and Diwamu Barhama, both in important positions at the Indian High Commission. The police reached the scene and took the accused into custody. The officials of Indian High Commission were shifted to the Secretariat Police Station and later released after lodging FIR against them. Islamabad police said both Indian High Commission officials were released due to their diplomatic immunity and had been handed over in the presence of Pakistani ministry’s officials.