Pakistan arrests 2 Indian High Commission officials

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - Two officials of the Indian High Commission in Pakistan were briefly arrested on Monday after being allegedly involved in a road accident in the capital Islamabad.

The officials identified as Dwimu Brahma and Paul Selvadhas were arrested by the police after their official car allegedly ran over a pedestrian, a Foreign Ministry letter said.

They were posted at the mission in 2017 as non-diplomatic staff.

The officials were released hours after their arrest as "they enjoyed diplomatic immunity", local media reported, quoting unnamed police officials.

New Delhi summoned Pakistan's charge d'affaires to its External Affairs Ministry and issued a demarche over the arrests, Indian media reported.

The demarche, it added, 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, it said, asking Islamabad to return the two officials along with the official car to the High Commission immediately.

The incident took place weeks after two officials of the High Commission of Pakistan in New Delhi were apprehended and asked to leave the country for alleged espionage activities.

The fresh diplomatic escalation -- another sign of mounting tensions between the two South Asian nuclear-armed rivals -- follows almost daily border clashes.