PHOTO: FILE
Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque said Pakistan had on Tuesday asked Dhaka to recall senior diplomat Moushumi Rahman from its high commission in Islamabad within 48 hours.
"The political counsellor and head of chancery in Islamabad has been given till Thursday to leave the country," Haque told AFP.
Bangladesh upholds death sentence for top JI leader
On December 23, Pakistan recalled one of its diplomats from Bangladesh at Dhaka's request, after she was alleged to have financed a suspected extremist accused of spying for Pakistan.
The secretary did not offer any reason for Pakistan's decision to expel the diplomat, but experts believe it was a retaliatory move.
"It is unsurprising and of course a tit-for-tat measure by Islamabad," Delwar Hossain, professor of International Relations at Dhaka University said.
Baseless charges: Pakistan recalls ‘harassed’ diplomat from Bangladesh
Idris Sheikh, a suspected member of the banned Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), told a Dhaka court last month that he received 30,000 taka ($380) from Pakistani diplomat Farina Arshad, according to police detectives.
A formal statement dismissed these charges as "baseless", adding: "an incessant and orchestrated media campaign was launched against her on spurious charges".
Government and police have blamed the JMB for a recent spate of killings of foreigners and bomb attacks on shrines attended by minority Shias.
Pakistan recalls diplomat from Dhaka over 'extremist link'
Relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan have soured lately after Islamabad strongly protested against the November execution of two opposition leaders for war crimes during the 1971 conflict with Pakistan.
On Wednesday, Bangladesh's top court also upheld the death sentence on the chief of the country's largest religious party for war crimes.
COMMENTS (9)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ