India, Pakistan diplomatic stand-off escalates

Sources in the External Affairs Ministry told UNI that eight officials from Indian High Commission in Islamabad will be withdrawn as the authorities in Pakistan have put out their names in public domain, compromising their security.

The action on the part of Pakistan comes on the day when six officials of its mission in New Delhi left for Pakistan. Sources in the Ministry said that India did not order their expulsion, saying that these Pakistani diplomats have been withdrawn by Islamabad on its own. Meanwhile the six officials in the Pakistani High Commission returned home amidst growing tension between the two countries after a Pakistani Mission staffer was caught in an espionage ring and expelled. 

Though there was no official confirmation on the number of diplomats leaving India, according to Pakistan High Commission sources there were six mission officials who have left or were in the process of leaving. “The decision has been taken after it became impossible for the officials to work in this vitiated atmosphere. Indian government is threatening and blackmailing our diplomats. So in this condition, it is impossible for us to stay in this country and work,” the sources alleged. 

According to the sources, those who have left include commercial counsellor Syed Furrukh Habib and first secretaries Khadim Hussain, Mudassir Cheema and Shahid Iqbal. The Pakistani action comes days after India declared Pakistani official Mehmood Akhtar persona non-grata for espionage activities, triggering a tit for tat action from Islamabad, which also expelled an Indian High Commission official there. Earlier, media reports emerging from Islamabad said Pakistan may ask at least two officials of the Indian High Commission to leave the country for their alleged involvement in subversive activities.