The Distraction Strategy of India due to the Crisis
The latest trend of educative pestering and staged propaganda against Pakistani diplomats in India by the New Delhi is ushering in grim propensity in this burning and tense venue of India and Pakistan relationship it’s wholesome scheme of the stalwarts of New Delhi to cover up its blunders and misdeeds within. Various alarmist reports have emanated over the last couple of weeks of the Pakistani officials at their diplomatic mission in New Delhi who have long been under surveillance, intimidated out in the open and hounded in the media all of which are serious violations against the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961). These out laddish actions by Indian rulers and their proxy members of the media are not random eruptions of nationalism but well planned, government backed efforts to paint an evil picture of Pakistan among minds of Indian society.
External scapegoating strategy seems to be well thought out to fulfill two goals namely to divert attention of domestic audience to India recent and humiliating security failure, such as the military and intelligence blunders it committed during the India-Pakistan Standoff of 2025 and to create an environment of enmity that will give New Delhi a pretext to pursue aggressive policies within the region.
The chronology of the events speaks volumes. On 24 May 2025 a staff of the Pakistani ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) was receiving the cake delivery in the High Commission as routine, and in an unexpected and violent incident surrounded by the Indian media. Not only did it happen intrusively and humiliatingly, but also it was filmed and shown repeatedly by the overly nationalistic Indian television, turning an ordinary diplomatic situation into a spectacle. Just two days after, 26 May 2025, a fellow MOFA official was harassed in the same manner as he was collecting official mails at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Again, video of this interception Africa was almost instantly spread through social and mainstream media and was accompanied by shrieking and unfounded accusations of spyware and suspect behavior.
The Indian government through the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set its massive media apparatus into play to initiate a tireless attack on the face of the Pakistani diplomatic mission. Well known Indian journalists, commentators and politicians have added to this poisonous speech they have made derogatory and provocative remarks not only to mock Pakistan but also intentionally jeopardize the security and status of Pakistani diplomats in the Indian capital New Delhi. All this indicates a reckless situation where even the Indian state media environment has turned into a tool of diplomatic aggression by its government towards the outside world.
It has been reported that RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) and other security agencies are involved with intrusive spying of Pakistani diplomatic personnel and their family members- which is a direct and unpardonable violation of international standards regarding diplomatic practice. It is said that the agents have kept an eye on the movements, conversations, and day to day life of Pakistani officials however the information was collected not to secure it but is one more way of harassing and making them scared.
Worse still the security personnel of Delhi Police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) are stationed outside the house of Pakistani Diplomats as well as around the building of the High Commission itself which is causing an atmosphere of intimidation and siege. The aggressive actions constitute a gross infringement of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961) that defines the rights and protections granted to diplomatic missions globally. Under Article 22(1) of the Convention, the premises of a diplomatic mission is inviolable and that agents of the host state cannot enter such a premises without the express permission of the head of the mission. Article 22(3) further applies this protection to the furniture, property and modes of transport that are related to the mission and this is stated as immune towards requisition or interference. The activities of India are gross flouting of these postulates.
Why, then, should India now in particular have decided to follow this route of unrest and flouting international norms? The solution is to be found in the home politics and security of the India of Modi. New Delhi has already found itself with a number of humiliating military and intelligence mishaps this year (2025) mainly during the India-Pakistan Standoff that took place earlier this year. Loss of a number of fighter aircraft amidst aerial confrontations and failure of India to successfully seize strategic targets has already eroded the credentials of its military institution significantly. The security competence of the government has been undermined in the eyes of people and painstaking questions being posed across the strategic domain of India regarding the soundness of Modi baring his teeth on Pakistan
In this novel plot Pakistan is not only an enemy on the other side of the border but also a siren working right in the middle of the backyard its diplomats, its alleged spies and its potential infiltrators of subversion. It is narrative substitution of the old order: the actual failure of India ordered jet losses, the discovery of gaps in its intelligence system, and the incapability of gaining military superiority is being swapped in the minds of the people by the artificial story of diplomatic spying. The calculation of the Modi government is deadly and straight forward they can only ensure that people will forget the humiliation of India losing in the battle grounds, when they get the people to believe that Pakistan is conspiratorially scheming behind their backs.
The quantified erosion of diplomatic privileges discredits the whole system of interactions among states which brings about the revenge, increase channel of communication coming to ruin at the very time when communication is highly demanded. The fact that the Pakistani diplomats are targeted may lead to retaliating actions that will cause the already strained relations between two nuclear armed neighbors to be even colder. In addition, the flouting of the Vienna Convention in a blatant way may bring India an international censure. Such irresponsible approaches will end up costing India much more in the long run than they can ever bring that accomplish to a political gain that can be quantified.
The harassment of Pakistani diplomats in New Delhi by India was not a case of hapless occasional bullying in a vacuum but a planned state stunt to divert focus on the Agha Khan issue so that the Indian side can avert blame in their own country. This jaded travesty of plot is at the cost of international law and of diplomatic convention and of region stability. Pakistan on the other hand needs to keep on writing down and exposing these violations, and also in seeking the help of the international community to deal with India and punish their behavior that is not only reckless but also very dangerous. It is only through shouting at this technique that the reality will counteract propaganda and maintain peace in an already unstable South Asia.
