According to new government numbers, British-based diplomatic positions for key Indo-Pacific countries such as India, Pakistan, and China have been reduced by up to 50% in recent years.
Despite being recognised as crucial locations to strengthen connections with over the next decade, staff members at embassies and consulates in Pakistan, China, and India have all been decreasing over the last seven years, according to the Guardian.
According to the report, the Pakistan embassy and consulate employed between 110 and 119 British Foreign Office personnel.
This was reduced to 50-59, representing a 50% reduction.
In India, the number of British-based Foreign Office workers has been reduced from 70-79 to 40-49 over the last seven years.
The Guardian obtained the numbers from Foreign Office minister David Rutley in answer to written parliamentary questions from Labour frontbencher Catherine West.
The numbers also revealed a decrease in the number of ministerial visits to these countries.
In 2018, the Foreign Office and international development department made 37 ministerial trips to the Indo-Pacific region, with certain nations being visited many times per year.
But, by 2022, the number of ministerial trips was less than a third of that, with only 12 recorded, according to the Guardian.
According to a Foreign Office official, these figures do not provide a “accurate picture” of Britain’s presence in the Indo-Pacific area.
According to the Guardian, the drop in the number of UK-based personnel in China and India is due in part to Covid and how the UK spends its foreign development funds.
The spokeswoman told the Guardian that commerce with the Indo-Pacific increased by 16.4% year on year from fall 2021 to 2022, demonstrating the UK’s expanding importance in the region.
