NEW DELHI: Guests arriving at the Pakistan high commission for the traditional Iftar were harassed by Indian security personnel, in a repeat of a similar happening during the Pakistan Day celebrations in New Delhi in March, reports said on Wednesday.

“There may be prospects of a thaw in the Indo-Pak relations but ties at the ground level continue to be hostile as the latest incident that occurred outside the Pakistan High Commission shows,” The Tribune said.

Pakistan is understood to have decided to protest against the harassment, it said.

According to reports, videos have emerged of armed security personnel rummaging in personal vehicles and plainclothes men asking invitees to produce identity cards that were then photographed while those of presumably another security agency were seen writing down I-card numbers of the invitees.

Reports said the harassment might cast a shadow on the Iftar scheduled by Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria on Friday “as security agencies of both countries reciprocate will full measure”.

The close questioning of invitees, an aggressive search of some of the cars and exhortations by uniformed and plainclothes security personnel was a repeat of the intimidation on Pakistan Day celebrations at the same venue in March. At that time, security personnel were heard asking invitees to join the Indian government in boycotting the Pakistan Day celebrations.

“We have decided on a full court press [against Pakistan],” said an intelligence official while declining to comment on the incident.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2019