New Delhi, June 2: India on Sunday lodged a strong protest with Pakistan against "gross intimidation of guests" invited at the Iftar hosted by Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria in Islamabad. In a strongly worded statement, the Indian High Commission said Pakistani officials behaviour was "against all notions of civilized behaviour". Bisaria hosted an Iftar at Hotel Serena on Saturday.

"The disappointing chain of events on June 1 not only violate basic norms of diplomatic conduct but are against all notions of civilized behaviour," the statement said. "Stopping diplomats and officials of the High Commission of India in Pakistan from discharging their diplomatic functions by intimidation and coercion is entirely counter-productive for our bilateral relationship," it added.

Earlier today, Bisaria said Pakistani security officials subjected to his guests, mainly Pakistanis, to additional scrutiny. "The security forces stationed on the main road outside Hotel Serena rudely rebuffed and intimated officers and diplomatic staff of the High Commission of India who tried to ascertain from the security personnel the reasons for harassment of the guests," the statement said.

"Some officials were jostled, pushed, abused and aggressively threatened with bodily harm. In some cases, mobile phones belonging to officials were snatched. Guests faced unprecedented harassment and intimidation at the hands of security agencies," it added. The statement said a concerted campaign was launched by Pakistani security agencies in the days preceding the iftar to reach out to invitees to actively dissuade them from attending the event. Iftar Chaos in Pakistan: Omar Abdullah Calls Controversy 'Stupid Tit-for-Tat’ Diplomacy'.

"In complete violation of diplomatic norms, a large Pakistani security detachment, equipped with forklifts, was detailed outside Serena Hotel to aggressively turn away Pakistani civilians. In some cases, cars used by invitees were lifted and removed using forklifts. The more than 300 esteemed Pakistani guests who were turned away included MPs, government officials, media representatives, retired military officials and businessmen and retired diplomats, in addition to citizens from all walks of life," the statement said.

The Indian High Commission urged the Pakistani government to "urgently investigate these ugly events and share the results of the exercise with it. The incident comes days after Islamabad accused Indian security personnel of obstructing Indians from attending an iftar party thrown by the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi. (With agency inputs)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 02, 2019 07:04 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).