Shameful : Pakistan’s ISI harass Indian Diplomats

Abid Hussain and Tahir Khan, two suspected ISI trained intelligence gathering officials, were caught red-handed spying, by police officials in May this year. They were caught while meeting up with their contact in Delhi, while trying to gather intel regarding the Indian Army and Railways. Tahir Khan has been staying in the country for four years as he came to India in 2016, while Abid Hussain joined him last year, in 2019. They were given 48 hours to leave the country, after being caught for using fake identities and for gathering sensitive national information.

As a retaliation, Pakistan has geared up harassment of Indian Diplomats and officials in Islamabad. On Thursday, 4 June, Gaurav Ahluwalia, Indian Charge d’affairs was closely tailed by ISI staff, as a measure to intimidate the Indian Official. Ever since India declared the two Pakistani officials as Persona Non grata, Pakistan has been attempting to disrupt the Indian High Commission smooth functioning.

Gaurav Ahluwalia was brought in by the Pakistani officials to express their anger towards the expulsion of two Pakistani Officials from India. India however has made it clear that it will not tolerate tailing of officers and other such measures implied in order to intimidate them.

India views Pakistan’s actions as a violation of the 1992 code of conduct. The 1992 Code provides for “smooth and unhindered functioning” of the diplomats and other officials of the two countries, which confirms with the International laws. The two countries cannot exploit the other by resorting to illegal methods.

This is not the first time an occurrence of this sort has been observed. In 2016, Akhtar Mahmood, a Pakistani national was busted for running a spy racket, and was working in the Visa section of the High Commission in New Delhi.

India and Pakistan have often engaged in such activities, of declaring the diplomats as persona non grata after expelling them on the charges of espionage. The two Pakistani Officials, namely Abid Hussain and Tahir Khan were exposed and asked to deport immediately. Pakistan has however blamed India for torturing the two officials. Indian refuted the allegation and made it clear that they did not torture the two Pakistani officials.