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Following the terrorist attacks in Pahalgam that left 26 people dead on Tuesday (April 22), India downgraded its diplomatic relations with Pakistan, announcing measures such as suspending the 1960 Indus Water Treaty. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said on Wednesday (April 23), “The Defence/Military, Naval and Air Advisors in the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi are declared Persona Non Grata. They have a week to leave India. India will be withdrawing its own Defence/Navy/Air Advisors from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.” In this context, knowing about the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 becomes essential.
1. The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961) is a United Nations treaty that set some common principles and terms on how countries must treat each other’s diplomatic representatives, in order to ensure friendly relations and maintain proper communication channels between countries.
2. Presently, 193 countries have ratified the convention, meaning they agree it should be legally binding on them. Ratification means that a country should seek approval for the treaty on the domestic level and enact a law in their country to give effect to it. India ratified it through the Diplomatic Relations (Vienna Convention) Act of 1972.
1. Article 8 of the Vienna convention provides, “Members of the diplomatic staff of the mission should in principle be of the nationality of the sending State. Members of the diplomatic staff of the mission may not be appointed from among persons having the nationality of the receiving State, except with the consent of that State which may be withdrawn at any time.” Further, “the receiving State may reserve the same right with regard to nationals of a third State who are not also nationals of the sending State.”
2. Article 9 states that the receiving State may, at any time and without having to explain its decision, notify the sending State that the head of the mission or any member of the diplomatic staff of the mission is persona non grata or unwelcome. “In any such case, the sending State shall, as appropriate, either recall the person concerned or terminate his functions with the mission,” it says.
— Further, if the sending State refuses or fails within a reasonable period to carry out its obligations here, that is if they refuse to recall their diplomats, the receiving State may refuse to recognise the person concerned as a member of the mission. The article also says that a person can be declared persona non grata even before arriving in a country.
| Do you know? |
| The imposition of a persona non grata designation isn’t limited to diplomats. One DW report noted that Hollywood actor Brad Pitt was declared persona non grata by China after starring in the 1997 film Seven Years in Tibet, though the ban was lifted in 2014. Donald Trump, much before becoming US President, was also labelled as persona non grata by Panama City’s Municipal Council after he said that America was “stupid” to “give away the Panama Canal for nothing.” |
3. Article 11 says, “In the absence of specific agreement as to the size of the mission, the receiving State may require that the size of a mission be kept within limits considered by it to be reasonable and normal, having regard to circumstances and conditions in the receiving State and to the needs of the particular mission.”
4. Article 22 states that “the premises of the mission shall be inviolable. The agents of the receiving State may not enter them, except with the consent of the head of the mission.” Here, “mission” refers to the diplomats, the staff and other representatives in a host country.
—The Article further adds: “The receiving State is under a special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the premises of the mission against any intrusion or damage and to prevent any disturbance of the peace of the mission or impairment of its dignity.”
— Finally, it states: “The premises of the mission, their furnishings and other property thereon and the means of transport of the mission shall be immune from search, requisition, attachment or execution.”
5. Article 26 talks about the freedom of movement of all members of the mission. It states that “subject to its laws and regulations concerning zones entry into which is prohibited or regulated for reasons of national security, the receiving State shall ensure to all members of the mission freedom of movement and travel in its territory.”
6. Article 27 provides that “the receiving State shall permit and protect free communication on the part of the mission for all official purposes.”
7. The 1961 Convention also provides diplomatic immunity. As per the Article 29, “The person of a diplomatic agent shall be inviolable. He shall not be liable to any form of arrest or detention. The receiving State shall treat him with due respect and shall take all appropriate steps to prevent any attack on his person, freedom or dignity.”
— Notably, diplomatic immunity flows from two conventions, popularly called the Vienna Conventions — the 1961 Convention and the Convention on Consular Relations, 1963.
8. The convention also provides provisions regarding the non-interference of diplomats in the host country’s internal affairs. Article 41 says, “without prejudice to their privileges and immunities, it is the duty of all persons enjoying such privileges and immunities to respect the laws and regulations of the receiving State. They also have a duty not to interfere in the internal affairs of that State.”
(After knowing about the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, it is essential to know about the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 1963, as both these conventions provide comprehensive provisions for diplomatic and consular relations in international affairs.)
1. The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 1963, like the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961), governs relations between countries but focuses on consular officials rather than diplomats. Under this international treaty, a framework for consular relations between independent states is clearly defined.
2. This treaty ensures smooth consular functions and protects citizens abroad. One of the key provision of this convention is the consular access. Article 36 of this treaty states that “foreign nationals who are arrested or detained be given notice without delay of their right to have their embassy or consulate notified of that arrest. If the detained foreign national so requests, the police must fax that notice to the embassy or consulate, which can then check up on the person. The notice to the consulate can be as simple as a fax, giving the person’s name, the place of arrest, and, if possible, something about the reason for the arrest or detention.”
Consider the following lines with reference to 1961 Vienna Convention :
“In the absence of specific agreement as to the size of the mission, the receiving State may require that the size of a mission be kept within limits considered by it to be reasonable and normal, having regard to circumstances and conditions in the receiving State and to the needs of the particular mission.”
These lines are a part of:
(a) Article 8
(b) Article 9
(c) Article 11
(d) Article 12
| Answer key |
| (c) |
(Sources: legal.un.org, This Word Means: Persona non grata, Canada recalls 41 diplomats from India: What is the 1961 Vienna Convention, why it was invoked ,What is consular access?)
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