ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has condemned the Indian action of declaring Pakistan High Commission Staff member as Persona Non Grata (PNG) in New Delhi.
The Pakistani High Commissioner was called in by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs this morning to convey the decision of the Indian government that one of the staff members of the High Commission has been declared persona non grata and should leave India by 29 October 2016.
According to Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria, the Indian action has been accompanied by an extremely negative and orchestrated media campaign. “A staff member of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi was lifted by the Indian authorities yesterday (26 October 2016) on false and unsubstantiated charges. He was, however, released in about three hours on intervention by our High Commission. We condemn the detention and manhandling of our diplomatic official.”
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He said: “We reject the Indian allegations and deplore the Indian action which is indeed a violation of the Vienna Convention as well as the norms of diplomatic conduct especially in an already vitiated atmosphere. Pakistan High Commission has always been working within the parameters of international law and diplomatic norms.”
This act clearly reflects Indian actions to shrink diplomatic space for the working of Pakistan High Commission. The Indian attempts to escalate the tensions and divert the international attention from the grave human rights violations being perpetrated by the Indian occupation forces in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir can never succeed.
Pakistan urges the international community to take notice of the Indian designs, he added.
