'Missions in Pak should be allowed to function in keeping with Vienna Convention'

The government today said it has made it clear to Pakistan that diplomatic missions should be allowed to function normally in keeping with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the bilateral Code of Conduct.

Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh, in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, said the Indian government, from time to time, has taken up the incidents of harassment, aggressive surveillance and intimidation of officials of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, and also the obstacles placed in the early completion of residential complex for mission staff.

The Pakistani side was asked to resolve these issues and ensure safety and security of India's diplomatic mission and its diplomatic and consular officials, Singh said in response to a question on whether the government was aware of the harassment faced by the diplomats of India and Pakistan as a retaliatory action.

"The government has made it clear that respective diplomatic missions should be allowed to function normally in keeping with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961, and the bilateral Code of Conduct signed by the two countries in 1992," Singh said.

India and Pakistan in March had mutually agreed to resolve matters related to the treatment of diplomats and diplomatic premises, in line with the 1992 Code of Conduct for the treatment of diplomatic and consular personnel in India and Pakistan, Singh said.

The implementation of this understanding is regularly followed up through diplomatic channels, he said.

To another question on whether any incident regarding tampering with telephone lines of the Indian Embassy in America has come to the notice of the government, Singh said no such case has been reported.

However, he said there have been reported instances of fraudulent phone calls received by Indian nationals living in the US, probably by spoofing the land line number of the mission.

The mission in Washington has asked the local authorities concerned and took up the matter with the telephone service provider, he said.