Pakistan alleging mission officials in Delhi were harassed is baffling
The ongoing India-Pakistan diplomatic row took yet another ugly turn when the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi circulated a video on March 13 alleging that Indian security agencies have been tailing Pakistani diplomatic vehicles in the capital. This move is certainly a setback for the prevailing dismal relations between India and Pakistan. Any Pakistani claim to level allegations against India may not always be true as Pakistan's credibility has always been suspicious on all counts.
Assuming the charges aired are authentic, we should not forget the obtrusive and aggressive bumper-to-bumper surveillance mounted on Indian diplomatic cars on the streets of Islamabad by Pakistani intelligence outfits. Ever since India and Pakistan have commenced diplomatic ties, Pakistani ISI - the infamous and unscrupulous intelligence body - has been systematically covering the benign activities of the Indian high commission and its diplomats in the most brazen and uncivilised manner.
Pakistan has exhibited scant respect for the Geneva and Vienna conventions that form the crux of the guidelines for diplomatic conduct and behaviour for host countries. In 1992, senior Indian diplomat R Mittal was brutally assaulted by the ISI, which even resorted to administering electric shocks to him, causing immense physical damage.
Bereft of any civility or sensitivity, they chose medieval methods of interrogation with no regard to human rights. Mittal was not the only case, there were numerous incidents of torture, intimidation and excesses targeting Indian diplomats and staffers.
Sadly, in these days of modern statecraft, Pakistan still employs archaic methods, exposing its regressive approach. Such tactics lay bare its hollow claims of being an advanced and progressive nation. In these modern days of espionage and counter espionage, Pakistan is an example of a country living in the Stone Age.
In the backdrop of reports about surveillance and counter surveillance, Pakistan has created roadblocks and obstacles in getting access to the high commission premises. Other than creating these obstructions, the Pakistani establishment also impedes movements of the Indian high commission officials attending to routine chores like shopping or casual social engagements.
By collaborating with the foreign ministry, the ISI ensures that Indian officials' movements are restricted, if at all. Recently, using the same intimidatory methods, Pakistan stopped the Indian high commissioner from visiting a Bohra community function. Such acts, on part of Pakistan, are against all diplomatic niceties and norms.
Yet again, the country has shown it is oblivious to any moral obligation to the diplomatic community or any international mandate.
Essentially, it airs its frustration through such diplomatically immature acts. It has failed abysmally in Kashmir. And it has not managed to inflict visible damage to split the Indian polity or society. It's also possible that Pakistan is trying to divert attention from the many ills afflicting the dying state.
All such perverse actions are manifested through crude surveillance and acts of provocation directed at India. It is crying hoarse, castigating India for alleged acts of mobile surveillance that affect Pakistani diplomats' movements close to home. In reality, few would buy this story.