Archive · 21 Aug 2026
MEA Calls New Delhi Removal a Proportionate Response
India and Pakistan have diplomatic offices in each other’s capitals.
Pakistani authorities removed some structures outside India’s office in Islamabad.
India said it had asked Pakistan not to remove them.
India then removed temporary structures outside Pakistan’s office in New Delhi.
The removed items included barricades, traffic bollards, and equipment for managing visa queues.
Officials said some of the structures were outside the Pakistan mission’s approved boundary.
India called its action a proportionate response.
The two countries’ relations are already strained after a 2025 attack in Pahalgam killed 26 people.
The articles also describe a separate disagreement over statements about Jammu and Kashmir.
India removed temporary structures, barricades, traffic bollards, and queue-management installations outside Pakistan’s High Commission in New Delhi.
The MEA said the action responded to Pakistan’s removal of parking poles and security-related structures outside India’s High Commission in Islamabad.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Pakistan removed the structures despite an Indian request not to do so.
Officials said some structures outside the Pakistan mission were beyond its approved boundary, and a JCB was used in the removal.
The reciprocal actions came amid strained ties following the April 2025 Pahalgam attack, which killed 26 people.
- Who
- India’s Ministry of External Affairs, spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, Pakistani authorities, and the two countries’ diplomatic missions.
- What
- India removed temporary structures and other installations outside Pakistan’s High Commission after Pakistan removed structures outside India’s High Commission.
- When
- The removal in New Delhi took place on Thursday, three days after the reported Pakistani action; the MEA discussed it on Friday.
- Where
- Outside the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi and the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.
- Why
- India said it was responding proportionately to Pakistan’s removal of structures despite an Indian request, while officials also cited the structures’ location beyond the Pakistan mission’s approved boundary.
India’s Position
Pakistan’s Reported Position
Removal of structures
India’s Position
India said removing temporary structures outside Pakistan’s High Commission was a proportionate response after Pakistani authorities removed structures outside India’s mission.
Pakistan’s Reported Position
The articles report that Pakistani authorities removed structures outside India’s High Commission for the convenience of parking, but provide no direct Pakistani explanation of the subsequent Indian action.
Requests and boundaries
India’s Position
India said it had asked Pakistan not to remove the structures and said the New Delhi action responded to Pakistan’s decision. Officials also said some structures outside the Pakistan mission were beyond its approved boundary.
Pakistan’s Reported Position
Pakistan’s direct position on the boundary claim and the reciprocal removal is not provided in the articles.
Jammu and Kashmir status
India’s Position
Jaiswal said Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh are integral and indivisible parts of India and will remain so.
Pakistan’s Reported Position
Pakistan summoned a US Charge d’Affaires and protested that remarks describing Jammu and Kashmir as part of India were factually incorrect and contradicted Washington’s longstanding position on Kashmir.
- Indian action
- Authorities removed temporary structures, a queue liner, barricades, traffic bollards, and queue-management installations near the Pakistan High Commission’s visa section in New Delhi.
- Pakistani action
- Pakistani authorities removed parking poles and other security-related structures outside India’s High Commission in Islamabad.
- India’s explanation
- MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal described the New Delhi action as a proportionate response.
- Boundary claim
- Officials said some structures outside the Pakistan High Commission were beyond the mission’s approved boundary.
- Method used
- The structures and barricades were removed with the help of a JCB machine.
- Related attack
- The Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir in April 2025 killed 26 people.
- Separate Kashmir dispute
- India said Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh are integral and indivisible parts of India; Pakistan protested related remarks by US diplomat Sergio Gor.
