Diplomatically Speaking ..

During my first visit to Delhi in 2008, I saw a car with a strange registration number, something of the nature 21 CC XXXX. On asking, a colleague said that the cars of foreign diplomats have such registration numbers and also informed that one comes across a lot of these cars in Delhi, New Delhi being the capital of the country. Why should there be a separate nomenclature of vehicle registration for cars of foreign embassies/mission? The thought intrigued me.

However, during the recent news update on extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, the reason became clear - 'Diplomatic Immunity'. Wikipedia defines Diplomatic Immunity as "a form of legal immunity and a policy held between governments that ensures that diplomats are given safe passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or prosecution under the host country's laws". The immunity is extended to acts committed within territorial boundaries such as Embassy Offices, Diplomat Residences and even vehicles. As per international law cars bearing these licence plates enjoy diplomatic immunity.

Recent stories suggest that the unique number plates serve as a big identifier for terror groups to target the individuals of a certain country and hence many embassy officials have decided on using cars with local registration numbers. A case in point is of the Israeli officials in India after the recent terror attacks.