India’s embassy in Pakistan was one of the largest until 2020

Pakistan-India had one of the largest officer strength at embassies

The Indian embassy in Pakistan had been one of the largest for years, however, a further souring of relations after the Pahalgam terror attack is set to reduce it to less than a third of its sanctioned strength, at 30 members.

On April 23, the Ministry of External Affairs, in terse order, announced the reduction in the size of its Pakistan mission. “The overall strength of the High Commissions will be brought down to 30 from the present 55 through further reductions, to be effected by May 1, 2025,” Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri had said.

A Moneycontrol analysis of data from Rajya Sabha showed that India’s mission to Pakistan had one of the highest sanctioned strengths among all embassies, at 111, with Bangladesh boasting of 151 officials and the US having 142, followed by China at 125, Afghanistan at 124 and Nepal with 120.

In July 2020, India in response to Pakistan’s move to detain some of its High Commission staffers in Islamabad, had halved the size of the embassy to 55. The 50 percent downgrade had happened for the first time since the 2001 terror attack on the Indian Parliament.

After the latest round of reduction, India’s mission in Pakistan is expected to be the 27th largest, just above Kenya and Spain, and roughly the same in size as Indonesia and Maldives. Bhutan, with a sanctioned strength of 36, is expected to have more members than the Islamic Republic neighbour.

India has a sanctioned strength of over 3,500 officials across countries, with South Asian and Middle Eastern countries carrying a significant share of these staffers.

The diplomatic relations with Pakistan hit a new low following the Pahalgam terrorist attack on April 22, which claimed 26 lives in one of the worst terror acts against civilians on Indian soil. India’s External Affairs Ministry subsequently announced a curtailment of diplomatic relations and kept the Indus Water Treaty in abeyance.

Pakistan has since responded by suspending all trade with India and deemed the diversion of Indus waters as an ‘act of war’.