'Despite our request...': India's tit-for-tat move against Pakistan mission explained

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal says, “There were some temporary structures in the lane where the Pakistani High Commission is, and we removed them.”

The ministry of external affairs on Friday described India’s tit-for-tat move as “proportionate action” after structures outside the Indian mission in Islamabad were removed.

Structures, including queue liners near the visa section of the Pakistan High Commission, reportedly located outside the compound’s designated perimeter in a lane, were removed by authorities at New Delhi on Thursday (HT photo)

The comments came after Indian authorities removed queue management barriers and other unauthorised structures outside the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi in response to the action taken by Pakistani authorities.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the structures removed in Islamabad were meant to facilitate parking, while India subsequently removed temporary structures from the lane where the Pakistan High Commission is located in New Delhi.

“Some structures in front of the Indian High Commission in Pakistan, which were meant to facilitate parking, were removed. Despite our request to them not to do so, they went ahead with it. In response, we took what could be described as a proportionate action,” Jaiswal said.

“There were some temporary structures in the lane where the Pakistani High Commission is located here, and we removed them,” he added.

Deep Dive

What structures did India remove outside the Pakistan High Commission?

Why did Pakistan remove structures outside the Indian High Commission?

How does India's action constitute a 'tit-for-tat' response?

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Tit-for-tat move

The action came two days after Pakistani authorities removed some barricades and parking poles on a road outside the Indian High Commission in Islamabad's high-security diplomatic enclave.

The Indian mission had formally protested against the removal, but Pakistani authorities went ahead with the action, saying it was part of a project to widen the road, HT had reported earlier citing people familiar with the matter.

Jaiswal said, “Despite our request to them not to do so, they went ahead with it.”

Giving details of the incident, he added that the removed structures outside the Indian High Commission in Pakistan were meant to facilitate parking.

India-Pak ties on the downhill

This was yet another instance of the two sides resorting to tit-for-tat actions amid a total freeze in bilateral relations. Bilateral relations, already at a low since the Indian government scrapped Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in 2019, were further downgraded after the Pahalgam terror attack last year.

Both sides have reduced staff at their diplomatic missions. India also imposed a series of diplomatic and economic measures, including the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty and closure of the main land border crossing with Pakistan.

India later launched Operation Sindoor to target terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan, triggering a four-day military conflict that ended with an understanding between senior military officials of the two countries.

New Delhi has maintained that bilateral ties cannot be normalised as long as Pakistan does not stop supporting cross-border terrorism.