the big story

Indian embassy ki ajab kahani

The TLDR: Two members of the Indian embassy in Islamabad went ‘missing’ on Monday. They have now been “returned,” having spent some time in Pakistani custody. Both countries disagree vehemently over the reason for their arrest—escalating an ongoing diplomatic row that started last month.

Who are these two people?

The two Indian officials are Paul Selvadhas and Dwimu Brahma. Times of India calls them “non-diplomatic staff.” The Hindu identifies them as drivers.

What happened to them?

Ah, that depends on who you ask. The Pakistani version has two variations.

The ‘bad driver’ story: According to the Pakistani media, the two staff members were arrested after their vehicle hit a pedestrian:

“[A] BMW car hit a pedestrian who was walking on the embassy road at around 8 am and attempted to flee… [T]he pedestrian was critically injured and shifted to a hospital…the car was stopped by a huge crowd of people who handed over the two men to Islamabad Police.”

The fake currency twist: Pakistani officials claim that the men were carrying Rs 10,000 in fake notes.

What do our officials say?

Indian sources strongly deny the claim, and say that the ‘fake note’ tamasha is a trumped up charge. And it will be used to kick the two men out of the country. They also point to a recent escalation in attempts to intimidate and bully Indian diplomatic staff. Example: Ten days ago, ISI personnel allegedly chased a vehicle carrying India’s Acting High Commissioner Gaurav Ahluwalia.

Also: the two staff members were abducted, interrogated and even had “injury marks” on their body. Of course, these could have been inflicted by that angry mob, if you’re going with the Pakistani version.

And why would the Pakistanis do this?

New Delhi sources claim that this is petty revenge for the expulsion of two Pakistani diplomats last month. The two low-ranking staff members worked in the visa office. And they were kicked out for being engaged in "espionage activities.” According to the Indian police: 

“They were caught red-handed while obtaining documents on the Indian security establishment from an Indian national and handing over cash and an iPhone to him… Later, during interrogation, they confessed they were officials at the Pakistan high commission and worked for the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).”

At the time, Islamabad accused India of unlawful detention and torture of its diplomats.

Er, does this happen a lot?

Not very often. It isn’t routine to expel a Pakistani diplomat—the last time we did it was in 2016, right after the Uri strike. And it isn’t only Pakistanis who behave poorly. For example: In 2013, a senior Pakistani diplomat’s driver was allegedly beaten up by Indian security personnel near the Jawaharlal Nehru University. 

But the skirmishing tends to remain low-key. One favourite tactic: ruining a big event being held by the other country’s embassy by harassing the guests. See: a perfectly petty example here.

The bottomline: Wait, wasn’t there something about a virus killing a lot of people recently?

Reading list

There isn’t much more to learn about this tamasha. The Hindu, Indian Express and Times of India have different pieces of the story. Reuters reported on the embassy event wars back in 2019.