Two officials of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad were reported to be missing since early Monday morning. This incident comes after India expelled two Pakistani officials in the High Commission on charges of spying.
The Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that the officials were missing. “We have taken up the matter with the Pakistani side,’’ sources in the MEA stated.
The two officials, according to news reports, had gone out on official business when they were reported missing. Home Ministry sources claim that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) picked up them in the morning.
The relation between India and Pakistan has been on a downward spiral. The staff in the two High Commissions in the two countries is already very thin, as the relations have been downgraded since August last year.
This incident joins a series of others that highlight the deteriorating relations between India and Pakistan. Indian officials in the High Commission have recently complained about being aggressively tailed in Islamabad. A video of India's Charge d'affaires Gaurav Ahluwalia’s car being chased by ISI officials recently was being circulated on Twitter. Ahluwalia 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 with both India expelling two Pakistani officials. India had taken up the harassment with Pakistani authorities citing it as a violation of the Vienna Convention. According to news reports, there have been 13 such incidents targeting Indian officials since March.