LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO- 2254
ANSWERED ON- 12/12/2025
EMPLOYEES IN HIGH COMMISSION AND EMBASSIES
2254. DR. MANNA LAL RAWAT
Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state :-
(a) the number of High Commissions and Embassies in India at present country-wise;
(b) the number of employees working with all these High Commissions and Embassies, along with the number of India and foreign nationals out of them;
(c) whether the Government has the right to reduce or limit the number of staff employed in any country’s High Commission or Embassy, if so, the legal or diplomatic provisions in this regard and the time when such a provision has been made since independence; and
(d) whether the number of staff employed in the Pakistan High Commission was reduced in May 2025, if so, the details of the steps taken in this regard, the number of employees reduced and the current status in this regard?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
(SHRI PABITRA MARGHERITA)
(a) May kindly refer table below regarding the number of High Commissions and Embassies in India at present country-wise:
Table Title
| S No. |
Description |
Total (in Nos.) |
Remarks |
|
1 |
Resident Missions of Foreign countries in India |
163 |
List of countries attached at Annexure 1 |
|
2 |
Non-Resident Missions of Foreign countries in India |
12 |
List of countries attached at Annexure 2 |
|
Total |
175 |
|
(b) May kindly refer the table below regarding number of employees working with High Commissions and Embassies in India :
Table Title
| Diplomats/Officials(Foreign Nationals) |
Locally Recruited Staff |
|
2512 |
2821 |
(c) Yes, the Government may reduce or limit the number of staff employed in any country’s High Commission or Embassy.
As per the Article 11 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961;
"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.
The receiving State may equally, within similar bounds and on a non-discriminatory basis, refuse to accept officials of a particular category.”
(d) As per the decision of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) which met on 23 April 2025 in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, the overall strength of the High Commissions of India and Pakistan was brought down to 30 from 55, w.e.f 1 May 2025. Subsequently, three diplomats and officials of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi were declared persona non grata and expelled from India as their activities were not in consonance with their diplomatic/official status in India. The current strength of the Pakistan High Commission stands at 27.
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