Missing Indian High Commission officials in Pak released after India files demarche

UPDATE: The two Indian officials in Islamabad who had been in Pakistani custody have been released, according to mutliple news reports.

The two officials who had gone missing from the High Commission in Islamabad on Monday were reportedly arrested for an alleged hit-and-run accident, Pakistani media reports earlier claimed. The incident prompted India to summon the Pakistan Charges d' affaire Syed Hyder Shah to the Ministry of External Affairs to issue a demarche on the reports of their arrest.

“The demarche made it clear that there should be no interrogation or harassment of the Indian officials," sources in the MEA claimed. “The responsibility for the safety and security of the concerned diplomatic personnel lay squarely with the Pakistani authorities.”

The MEA had also asked Pakistan to return the two officials along with the official car to the High Commission immediately.

The two have reportedly since been released on account of their diplomatic immunity.

Pakistani-based journalist Anas Mallick tweeted saying that the FIR against the officials accused them of carrying fake currency.

"FIR launched against Indian Diplomatic officials involved in a hit and run accident in Islamabad earlier today says that Fake Currency worth PKR 10,000 was also recovered from the staff who were arrested, now both the officials have been released due to diplomatic immunity," Mallick tweeted.

The two officials, according to Home Ministry sources, are CISF drivers and were picked up by ISI early on Monday morning while they were reporting for work. 

This incident comes, a week after two Pakistani officials in the High Commission in Delhi were declared Persona Non Grata and expelled on charges of espionage.

Pakistani news reports claim that the two were arrested after running over a man and critically injuring him. The report quotes an alleged eye-witness who claimed to have witnessed the incident at 8 in the morning while on a morning walk. The car, the reports claimed, was stopped by a huge crowd.

Relations between the two countries have been at a low for a very long time. The situation has continued to worsen, especially after India revoked article 370 in August, 2019.

This has not been the first instance where Pakistan has been accused of harassing Indian officials. Indian officials in the High Commission have recently complained about being aggressively tailed in Islamabad. A video of the India's Charge d'affaires Gaurav Ahluwalia’s car being chased by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) member recently. A video of the incident was circulating on Twitter. He was also followed when he went out on his morning walk.

While diplomats on both sides claim harassment by security officials, the aggression seems to have increased both India expelling two Pakistani officials. India had taken up the harassment with Pakistani authorities calling it as a violation of the Vienna convention.

According to news reports, there have been 13 such incidents targeting Indian officials since March.