Unauthorised structures outside Pakistan High Commission demolished in Delhi

Over the past three days, India and Pakistan have dismantled some temporary structures outside their respective High Commissions in Delhi and Islamabad. In Islamabad, Pakistan authorities removed barricades and structures on Monday to manage the queue outside the Indian High Commission. The structures, which included parking poles, were meant to handle visitor and visa applicant queues and parking.

The Indian side had requested Pakistan not to demolish them, as they were crucial for crowd management, but Pakistan ignored the request. On Wednesday, India demolished structures outside the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi's Chanakyapuri area using a JCB machine. The action left a trail of rubble outside the mission, with broken metal railings, gates, twisted frames, roofing sheets, bricks, and concrete chunks scattered across the paved area.

The visa section remained visible amid the debris, with marked service windows. This tit-for-tat action occurs at a time when India and Pakistan's relations are at their lowest, following the military clash in May last year and the Pahalgam terror attack in April last year. Since the beginning of the diplomatic crisis, the High Commissions of both nations have functioned at the level of the Chargé d'affaires for seven years, with their diplomatic strength drastically reduced and visa services almost halted, except for some pilgrims.