ISLAMABAD – Pakistan on Tuesday warned India that itwill respond in the same coin amid a diplomatic row.
In a late night statement, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi saidPakistan will not tolerate India’s illegal and provoking decisions to hideNew Delhi’s failures at the international level.
Qureshi’s statement came after the Indian Ministry of External Affairsannounced its government had decided to reduce staff strength in thePakistan High Commission in New Delhi by 50 percent.
The decision, which is to be implemented in 7 days, was conveyed toPakistan’s Acting High Commissioner Syed Haider Shah.
“The Government of India has taken the decision to reduce the staffstrength in the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi by 50 percent. Itwould reciprocally reduce its own presence in Islamabad to the sameproportion,” the MEA said in a statement.
India also accused the Pakistani diplomats of violating the diplomaticnorms. On May 31, India had expelled two officials of the Pakistan HighCommission in New Delhi on allegations of spying — the first such movesince 2016.
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FM Qureshi said India was trying to hide its thrashing at the hands ofChina, the plight of the poor, the bloodshed in Kashmir and the massacre ofthe minorities by escalating tensions with the neighbours.
“Let there be no doubt that Pakistan will not stay silent. If 50 percent ofthe Pakistani staff has to return from India, then 50 percent from theIndian high Commision (in Pakistan) also have to go. We will respond onequality basis,” he asserted.
FM Qureshi said India was targeting Pakistani diplomats and levellingbaseless allegations.
“It is rather India who sends people in guise of the diplomats. We havemany examples. Our diplomats do what they are supposed to do. They neverviolate any rules,” he remarked.
