ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office on Tuesday said the two Indian High Commission employees involved in a hit-and-run accident and later found to be possessing fake currency committed “serious offences”.

In a statement the Foreign Office said that Indian High Commission had been told that the “illegal actions and reckless conduct” by their staffers involved in the accident was “against the law and established diplomatic norms”.

The Indian High Commission, it said, was at the time of handover of the two staffers reminded of its obligations to ensure adherence to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961 and that its employees should not engage in illegal activity.

An Indian High Commission car had on Monday hit a pedestrian on Khyaban-i-Sohrawardi in Islamabad. Two high commission staffers riding the car, who were later identified as Dwimu Brahma and Selvadas Paul, had tried to flee from the scene of the accident, but were stopped by the passersby and handed over to police. They were, according to the police, found to be in possession of fake currency notes worth Rs10,000.

The FO regretted that Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) was distorting the facts and denying the culpability of the officials in criminal offences.

Pakistan’s Charge d’Affaires in Delhi Haider Shah was on Tuesday again called to the MEA to receive a protest over the accident and handling of the issue by the Pakistani authorities. The MEA described the legal process undertaken by police after the accident as “forcible abduction” and the detention of the high commission staffers as keeping them “in illegal custody for more than 10 hours”.

The FO said the Indian MEA’s litany of baseless allegations was another attempt to malign Pakistan and a part of desperate efforts to divert attention from India’s state terrorism in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

“The BJP government must realise that its irresponsible policies and unilateral actions are increasingly imperiling peace and security in the region. India must act responsibly in the interest of regional peace and stability,” the FO added.

Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2020*