New Delhi, June 15: Haidar Shah, Pakistan's Acting High Commissioner to India, was summoned by officials in Delhi shortly after reports confirmed that two Indian embassy officials in Islamabad have "gone missing". The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a demarche to the the Pakistan's Charge d'affaires over the "reported arrest" of the two Indian diplomats.

"The demarche to Pakistan's Charge d'affaires made clear that there should be no interrogation or harassment of the Indian officials. The responsibility for the safety and security of the concerned diplomatic personnel lay squarely with the Pakistani authorities," said sources linked to news agency ANI.

Pakistan side was asked to return the two officials along with the official car to the Indian High Commission immediately, the MEA sources further claimed.

According to reports citing top officials, the two Indian embassy staffers went missing at around 8 am in the morning. Indian High Commissioner to Islamabad, Gaurav Ahluwalia, could not reportedly make contact with the missing employees of the embassy.

The missing staffers are feared to have been arrested by the Inter-State Intelligence (ISI), the spy wing of Islamabad. No confirmation in this regard has been received from the official sources.

Update by ANI

The incident, which is stated to be "deeply concerning" by Indian officials, comes days after two members of the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi were sent back by India after they were "caught red-handed" in espionage activities.

Since the action taken against Pakistani diplomats, an adverse reaction was faced by Indian officials in Islamabad. The vehicles of some diplomats were chased allegedly by ISI officials, reports said. A biker was also reportedly seen following the car of Indian envoy Ahluwalia.

The friction between India and Pakistan relations further deteriorated after the abrogation of Article 370 last year. The constitutional provision, which guaranteed semi-autonomous status to Jammu & Kashmir, was revoked by the Narendra Modi government. The move was called arbitrary by Islamabad and raised vehemently at several global platforms including the UN General Assembly.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 15, 2020 04:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).