FO probes Indian professor's claims against Pakistan mission in Delhi

• Indian academic claims staffer asked her personal questions.
• She wrote a letter to India’s foreign minister S Jaishankar.
  
• Mistreatment of individuals visiting missions would not be tolerated: FO.

The Foreign Office has announced that it is investigating claims made by an Indian academic that the Pakistan High Commission had questioned her inappropriately.

Criticising the timing and the manner in which the issue was raised, FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said: "We attach high importance to proper etiquette and behaviour towards all visa and consular applicants. All our diplomatic staff is under strict instructions to conduct themselves professionally."

She added that misbehaviour and mistreatment of "individuals visiting our missions" would not be tolerated.

“There are robust mechanisms in place for redressal of all public grievances."

According to India Today, a senior professor at a university in the Punjab region of India asserted that when she went to the office to apply for the visa, she was asked uncomfortable questions.

An official reportedly questioned the professor during the appointment about the reason for her trip to Lahore. The official's response was further stated as follows: “I wish to visit Lahore to photograph the monuments and write on them and also visit a university where I was invited to deliver a lecture.”

The professor, however, asserted that just as she was about to depart, another staffer entered and allegedly began asking her awkward personal questions.

“He asked me why I wasn’t married. How do I live without marriage, what do I do for my sexual desires,” the woman was quoted by India Today as saying.

The professor told the publication that the official continued with his questions despite her trying to change the topic.

India Today also said that the professor had also written a letter to India’s foreign minister S Jaishankar.