Indian authorities removed queue management barriers and unauthorised structures outside the Pakistan high commission in a tit-for-tat action following the removal of certain structures outside the Indian mission in Islamabad, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
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. India launched Operation Sindoor to target terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan, triggering a four-day conflict that ended with an understanding between senior military officials of the two countries. Pakistani authorities went ahead with the action despite a formal protest from the Indian side, contending that it was part of a project to widen the road. They also removed some traffic bollards and barricades outside the mission. This was yet another instance of the two sides resorting to tit-for-tat actions amid a total freeze in bilateral relations. Both sides have reduced staff at their missions, and the Indian side imposed a range of punitive diplomatic and economic measures, including the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty and the closure of the main land border crossing. India has maintained that bilateral ties cannot be normalised as long as Pakistan does not stop supporting cross-border terrorism.
The action was taken two days after authorities in Islamabad removed some barricades and parking poles on a road outside the Indian high commission within the high-security diplomatic enclave located a short distance from the foreign ministry, the people said. At the time, Pakistani officials in New Delhi and Islamabad had sought to stop the demolition by saying that no more action will be taken in the Pakistani capital, they said. Authorities used heavy machinery on Wednesday to demolish the structures near the visa section of the Pakistan high commission, located on a small road outside the mission’s compound, the people said on condition of anonymity. On Wednesday, Indian authorities brought down a shed-like structure and queue management barriers outside the main wall of the Pakistan high commission on Shantinath in Chanakyapuri, the people said.
