The High Commission of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in New Delhi is the

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually denotes ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Between 1972 and 1989, the mission was known as the ''Embassy of Pakistan in New Delhi'', as Pakistan was then temporarily a republic outside the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an International organization, international association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majo ...

, an intergovernmental organization primarily comprising former territories of the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

(see

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

Location

The Pakistani High Commission is located at No. 2/50-G,

Shantipath Shantipath, also written as Shanti Path, is the main road in the diplomatic enclave of Chanakyapuri, New Delhi, India. In Hindi language, its name means "Peace Road". Shantipath is surrounded by green landscape on its either side. A number of fo ...

Chanakyapuri Chanakyapuri () is a neighbourhood and diplomatic enclave established in the 1950s in New Delhi, India. It is also a sub-division of the New Delhi district and plays host to the majority of foreign Embassy, embassies in New Delhi. Chanakyapuri, ...

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

National Capital Territory of Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

History

The building was built in the 1950s, when Delhi's Diplomatic Enclave was constructed. Previously, Pakistan's High Commission was located close to Delhi's Old Fort, inside the complex of what is now the High Court of Delhi, earlier army barracks. A proposal was made before independence for the High Commission to be located at

Red Fort The Red Fort, also known as Lal Qila () is a historic Mughal Empire, Mughal fort in Delhi, India, that served as the primary residence of the Mughal emperors. Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned the construction of the Red Fort on 12 May 1639, fo ...

, but this was summarily rejected by the Indian Government. The High Commissioner's residence on 8-A Hardinge Avenue, now Tilak Marg, was originally the residence of

Liaquat Ali Khan Liaquat Ali Khan (1 October 189516 October 1951) was a Pakistani lawyer, politician and statesman who served as the first prime minister of Pakistan The prime minister of Pakistan (, Roman Urdu, romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the he ...

, Pakistan's first Prime Minister, who named it 'Gul-i-Ra'ana' after his wife,

Ra'ana Liaquat Ali Khan Begum Ra'ana Liaqat Ali Khan (, known as Gul-i-Rana; 13 February 1905 – 13 June 1990) was the First Lady of Pakistan from 1947 to 1951 as the wife of Liaquat Ali Khan who served as the 1st Prime Minister of Pakistan. She was also the first fe ...

. Following independence, Liaquat gifted the palatial residence to the Pakistani State, whereupon it became the residence of Pakistan's High Commissioner in India. The building has distinctive Islamic architectural features, such as

minarets A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

and a blue dome. , there were 98 personnel working at the mission.

Attack

On 7 August 2013, members of the youth wing of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

(known as the

Indian Youth Congress The Indian Youth Congress is the youth wing of the Indian National Congress party. The Indian Youth Congress was a department of the Indian National Congress from the period just after the Partition of India in 1947 until the late 1960s. Whil ...

) attacked the Pakistani High Commission in response to news reports of the deaths of five

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

soldiers, who were killed the day before in a cross-border firefight with the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

during the

2013 India–Pakistan border skirmishes The 2013 India–Pakistan border skirmishes was a series of armed skirmishes along the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed Kashmir area. Starting from the mid-January 2013, they have been described as the "worst bout of fighting in the region ...

at the

Line of Control The Line of Control (LoC) is a military control line between the Indian and Pakistanicontrolled parts of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir—a line which does not constitute a legally recognized international boundary, but ser ...

in the disputed region of

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...

. The protesters turned violent as they pushed back police barricades and engaged in scuffles with local law enforcement. The

Delhi Police The Delhi Police (DP) is the law enforcement agency for the National Capital Territory of Delhi. Delhi Police falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. In 2024, the sanctioned strength of Delhi Police w ...

resorted to using

water cannons A water cannon is a device that shoots a high-velocity stream of water. Typically, a water cannon can deliver a large volume of water, often over dozens of meters. They are used in firefighting, large vehicle washing, riot control, and mining. ...

to disperse the crowd. Around 175 people were detained, but later released. Similar protests were also organized in other major urban centres throughout

, including in the cities of

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

and

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

References

External links

* {{Indo-Pakistani relations

India and the Commonwealth of Nations Pakistan and the Commonwealth of Nations India–Pakistan relations

Location

History

Attack

See also

References

External links