Close X
Monday, November 25, 2024
ADVT 
International

UK cuts diplomatic jobs in countries like India, Pak, China: Report

Darpan News Desk IANS, 13 Mar, 2023 10:44 AM
  • UK cuts diplomatic jobs in countries like India, Pak, China: Report

London, March 13 (IANS) British-based diplomatic posts for key Indo-Pacific countries like India, Pakistan and China have been cut by up to 50 per cent in recent years, according to new government figures.

Despite being identified as key places to deepen ties with over the coming decade, staff members of embassies and consulates in Pakistan, China and India have all been diminishing over the last seven years, the Guardian reported.

According to the report, the number of British-based Foreign Office staff was between 110 and 119 in the Pakistan embassy and consulate.

This fell to 50-59, a cut equivalent to about 50 per cent.

Over the same timeframe, the number of British-based Foreign Office staff was cut from 70-79 to 40-49 in the past seven years in India.

The figures shared by the Guardian came from the Foreign Office minister David Rutley, in response to written parliamentary questions by the Labour frontbencher Catherine West.

The figures also showed a reduction in the number of trips by ministers to these countries.

The Foreign Office and international development department conducted 37 ministerial trips to the Indo-Pacific region in 2018, with some countries being visited more than once a year.

However, by 2022, the number of ministerial trips conducted was less than a third of that, with just 12 recorded, the Guardian reported.

A Foreign Office spokesperson told the Guardian that these numbers do not give an "accurate picture" of Britain's presence in the Indo-Pacific region.

The reduction in headcount of UK-based staff in China and India is partly due to Covid and how the UK spends its overseas development budget, the Guardian was told.

Citing evidence of the UK's growing influence in the region, the spokesperson told the Guardian that there was a boost of 16.4 per cent in trade with the Indo-Pacific year-on-year from autumn 2021 to 2022.

MORE International ARTICLES

2 Sikh men attacked & robbed in New York in Queens, the same neighbourhood where an elderly Sikh man was recently punched in the face

2 Sikh men attacked & robbed in New York in Queens, the same neighbourhood where an elderly Sikh man was recently punched in the face
2 Sikh men were attacked and robbed in New York in Queens on Tuesday, the same neighbourhood in the city where an elderly Sikh man was the target of a hate crime less than 2 weeks ago.  The attack happened “very close” to the area where Nirmal Singh was punched in an unprovoked assault on April 3.

2 Sikh men attacked & robbed in New York in Queens, the same neighbourhood where an elderly Sikh man was recently punched in the face

Manhunt on for the mystery assailant in New York mass subway shooting

Manhunt on for the mystery assailant in New York mass subway shooting
Officials from the city and the federal government investigating the morning shooting which seemed to be meticulously planned were puzzled by what triggered the attack. Although 33 shots had been fired, no one has died while five of those hit by bullets were reported to be in a critical condition.

Manhunt on for the mystery assailant in New York mass subway shooting

10 injured in mass shooting in New York train

10 injured in mass shooting in New York train
A total of 16 people were injured in the incident, six of them from shrapnel, smoke inhalation or other causes, officials said. 5 of the gunshot victims were in critical condition, but miraculously there were no deaths reported.

10 injured in mass shooting in New York train

2 killed, 4 injured in LA shooting

2 killed, 4 injured in LA shooting
The shooting occurred at 4.13 p.m. on Sunday evening in the US city's 12200 block of Blakley Avenue, Xinhua news agency quoted the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department as saying in a notification. Two male adult victims were pronounced dead at the scene, the Department said.

2 killed, 4 injured in LA shooting

Shehbaz Sharif elected as 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan

Shehbaz Sharif elected as 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan
The Speaker asked Shehbaz to move to the seat of the Prime Minister in the House and he shifted to the treasury benches amid cheers, with other members of the former joint opposition following suit. Shehbaz said it is the first time in Pakistan's history that a no-confidence motion against a Prime Minister has been successf

Shehbaz Sharif elected as 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan

Pak SC reinstates National Assembly, orders voting on no-confidence motion against Imran

Pak SC reinstates National Assembly, orders voting on no-confidence motion against Imran
 In a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ruled on Thursday that the National Assembly Deputy Speakers ruling to dismiss the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan and the subsequent dissolution of the Lower House by the President on the PMs advice were contrary to the Constitution and the law of the land, Express Tribune reported.

Pak SC reinstates National Assembly, orders voting on no-confidence motion against Imran