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Missions trade allegations of rude awakenings in 3am doorbell raids
As diplomatic ding-dongs go, the latest, in which India and Pakistan are trading accusations of the harassment of each other’s foreign officials, is one of the more bizarre. Pakistani officials say they received a complaint from the Indian high commission in Islamabad this month that the doorbell of JP Singh, deputy high commissioner, was rung at 3am. Though the Indians did not answer the door, they believe Pakistani security agents were responsible. A few days later, the doorbell of Syed Haider Shah, the Pakistani deputy high commissioner 600km away in New Delhi, was rung at 3am in what Pakistan believes was retaliation.
The tit-for-tat ring-and-run is the latest in a string of allegations from both high commissions that their officials are being intimidated — a sign, say diplomats, of how dysfunctional the relationship between the nuclear-armed neighbours has become. “I cannot believe we have got to the stage where our officials are being followed and our doorbells are being rung,” said one Pakistani official. “It is very, very surprising and is not how diplomacy should be done.” Sohail Mahmood, Pakistan’s high commissioner to India, said there was no mechanism for hammering out solutions to such daily irritations. “Where exactly is the space for diplomacy to resolve disputes and rebuild trust?” he said.
Tension between India and Pakistan has been high for years, with frequent attacks along the de facto border between the two countries and occasional outbursts of hostile rhetoric. But in the past few weeks the political stand-off has strayed into the diplomatic arena. New Delhi says the latest problems started when the site of a diplomatic residential compound being built in Islamabad was raided and the power and water cut off. Pakistani officials say the workers there did not have proper security clearance and that the issue has now been resolved. India also alleges that its officials have been tailed and aggressively monitored for years, claiming that on one occasion a diplomat’s home was broken into and a laptop stolen. Islamabad has not responded to those allegations, though Mr Mahmood will travel back to the Pakistani capital in the coming days to discuss the situation.
Pakistani officials say they are also being harassed. In recent days, they allege, their cars have been tailed and occasionally obstructed by Indian authorities, not least on one occasion when an official was taking a child to school. “We are looking into the issues highlighted by Pakistan,” the Indian foreign ministry said. The spat is threatening one of the perks diplomats in both cities hold dearest: their membership of elite members’ clubs. Ajay Bisaria, India’s high commissioner to Pakistan, has been denied membership of the Islamabad club, in response, say Pakistani officials, to the high rates they are charged at the lavish Gymkhana Club and Golf Club in Delhi. This is not the first time the two countries have engaged in low-level diplomatic hostilities. In 2016, Islamabad was angered when India declared its high commission there a “non-family” post and evacuated families. In 2013 a Pakistani diplomat was allegedly beaten up by the side of the road in Delhi — although India said the altercation was purely verbal and the result of a road accident. “India and Pakistan have been squeezing one another’s diplomats for decades,” said Shashank Joshi, a senior policy fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. “It goes up and down, spiking during periods of political tension or tit-for-tat spirals after small incidents.” “This certainly isn’t isolated to India and Pakistan,” he added, “but those two countries do have more manpower to devote to it.”
https://www.ft.com/content/0c12f756-...e-cc62a39d57a0
As diplomatic ding-dongs go, the latest, in which India and Pakistan are trading accusations of the harassment of each other’s foreign officials, is one of the more bizarre. Pakistani officials say they received a complaint from the Indian high commission in Islamabad this month that the doorbell of JP Singh, deputy high commissioner, was rung at 3am. Though the Indians did not answer the door, they believe Pakistani security agents were responsible. A few days later, the doorbell of Syed Haider Shah, the Pakistani deputy high commissioner 600km away in New Delhi, was rung at 3am in what Pakistan believes was retaliation.
The tit-for-tat ring-and-run is the latest in a string of allegations from both high commissions that their officials are being intimidated — a sign, say diplomats, of how dysfunctional the relationship between the nuclear-armed neighbours has become. “I cannot believe we have got to the stage where our officials are being followed and our doorbells are being rung,” said one Pakistani official. “It is very, very surprising and is not how diplomacy should be done.” Sohail Mahmood, Pakistan’s high commissioner to India, said there was no mechanism for hammering out solutions to such daily irritations. “Where exactly is the space for diplomacy to resolve disputes and rebuild trust?” he said.
Tension between India and Pakistan has been high for years, with frequent attacks along the de facto border between the two countries and occasional outbursts of hostile rhetoric. But in the past few weeks the political stand-off has strayed into the diplomatic arena. New Delhi says the latest problems started when the site of a diplomatic residential compound being built in Islamabad was raided and the power and water cut off. Pakistani officials say the workers there did not have proper security clearance and that the issue has now been resolved. India also alleges that its officials have been tailed and aggressively monitored for years, claiming that on one occasion a diplomat’s home was broken into and a laptop stolen. Islamabad has not responded to those allegations, though Mr Mahmood will travel back to the Pakistani capital in the coming days to discuss the situation.
Pakistani officials say they are also being harassed. In recent days, they allege, their cars have been tailed and occasionally obstructed by Indian authorities, not least on one occasion when an official was taking a child to school. “We are looking into the issues highlighted by Pakistan,” the Indian foreign ministry said. The spat is threatening one of the perks diplomats in both cities hold dearest: their membership of elite members’ clubs. Ajay Bisaria, India’s high commissioner to Pakistan, has been denied membership of the Islamabad club, in response, say Pakistani officials, to the high rates they are charged at the lavish Gymkhana Club and Golf Club in Delhi. This is not the first time the two countries have engaged in low-level diplomatic hostilities. In 2016, Islamabad was angered when India declared its high commission there a “non-family” post and evacuated families. In 2013 a Pakistani diplomat was allegedly beaten up by the side of the road in Delhi — although India said the altercation was purely verbal and the result of a road accident. “India and Pakistan have been squeezing one another’s diplomats for decades,” said Shashank Joshi, a senior policy fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. “It goes up and down, spiking during periods of political tension or tit-for-tat spirals after small incidents.” “This certainly isn’t isolated to India and Pakistan,” he added, “but those two countries do have more manpower to devote to it.”
https://www.ft.com/content/0c12f756-...e-cc62a39d57a0