India lodges fresh protest over harassment of diplomats

India has lodged a protest with Pakistan over four separate incidents of alleged harassment of Indian High Commission officials in Islamabad, and sought an immediate investigation into them, official sources said Thursday.

On March 18, India issued a note verbale -- a diplomatic communication -- to the Pakistan Foreign Ministry, giving a detailed account of the incidents including aggressive tailing of the Indian naval adviser by two Pakistani personnel, they said.

The note verbale said the naval adviser was "aggressively tailed" by two Pakistani personnel in a car while he was going to the High Commission from his home on March 15, according to sources.

 

They said two Pakistani personnel were keeping a watch outside the residence of the naval adviser during a dinner he hosted on March 14.

In a separate case, the note said another official of the mission received hoax calls while another staff of the mission was subjected to "intimidatory" behaviour by a Pakistani personnel on March 14, the sources said.

In the note, India asked Pakistan to carry out immediate investigation into the cases of harassment of Indian officials.

India issued a similar note verbale to the Pakistan Foreign Ministry on March 13, lodging a strong protest over several incidents of alleged harassment of Indian High Commission officials between March 8 and 11.

In the note , the Indian High Commission has sought an urgent investigation into the incidents, saying such cases of harassment are in violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

India's strong protest over the incidents came in the midst of severe strain in bilateral ties between the two neighbours.

Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after Indian Air Force fighter jets bombed terror group JeM's training camp near Balakot, deep inside Pakistan on February 26.

Pakistan retaliated by attempting to target Indian military installations the next day. However, the IAF thwarted their plans.

The Indian strike on the JeM camp came 12 days after the terror outfit claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama in which 40 personnel were killed.