New Delhi, April 15 (TNS): India on Sunday, lodged a strong protest with Pakistan over alleged blocking of access for visiting Sikh pilgrims to Indian diplomats and consular teams, Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a press release.
This comes weeks after New Delhi and Islamabad decided to resolve the crisis arising out of harassment and intimidation of diplomats and their families, according to Indian media.
According to a statement issued by Indian MEA on Sunday, “A Jatha of around 1800 Sikh yatris has been travelling in Pakistan from April 12, under a bilateral agreement on facilitating visits to religious shrines.
A standard practice has been that the Indian High Commission’s consular/protocol team is attached with visiting pilgrims, to perform consular and protocol duties, like helping out in medical or family emergencies. However, this year, the consular team has been allegedly denied access to Indian Sikh pilgrims.
The team allegedly could not meet the pilgrims on their arrival at Wagah Railway Station on April 12. Similarly, it was allegedly denied entry into Gurdwara Panja Sahib on April 14, for a scheduled meeting with pilgrims there. The High Commission was thus prevented from performing basic consular and protocol duties for Indian citizens.”
Moreover, on April 14, the Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, who was to visit Gurdwara Panja Sahib at the invitation of the Chairman of the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), was “suddenly asked to return while en route to the shrine, for unspecified ‘security’ reasons”, the statement added.
The High Commissioner, who was to greet Indian pilgrims on the occasion of Baisakhi, was thus compelled to return without meeting Indian citizens, it said.
India has lodged a strong protest with Pakistan against this “inexplicable diplomatic discourtesy” pointing out that these incidents constitute a clear violation of the Vienna Convention of 1961, the bilateral Protocol to visit Religious Shrines, 1974 and the Code of Conduct (for the treatment of diplomatic/consular personnel in India and Pakistan) of 1992, recently reaffirmed by both countries.
Press Release
