New Delhi, Islamabad expel diplomats

India accuses Pakistani visa officer of spying; Pak declares Indian high commission staffer persona non grata

NEW DELHI/ ISLAMABAD: Relations between Pakistan and India, which have already been strained by ongoing tensions, hit a new low on Thursday after New Delhi and Islamabad decided to expel officials posted in each other’s diplomatic missions on charges of espionage.

It all started when New Delhi police detained a staff member of the Pakistani High Commission earlier in the day for questioning on charges of spying.

Hours later, Pakistan also decided to declare the staff member of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad as persona non grata over his activities contrary to the diplomatic norms.

But it was India that first declared Mahmood Akhtar, who was working as visa officer at the Pakistan High Commission for over two and half years, as  persona non grata and asked him to leave the country within 48 hours after he was detained by New Delhi police.

Akhtar was released because of diplomatic immunity but only after prolonged questioning for obtaining alleged defence related material from two Indian nationals, who police there claimed were on his payroll.

Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup claimed that Akhtar was working for Inter-Services Intelligence. Delhi police joint commissioner Ravindra Yadav said Akhtar was detained with sensitive documents in his possession he allegedly obtained from two Indian citizens.

The arrested Indian citizens were identified as Maulana Ramzan and Subhash Jangir, both residents of Rajasthan. They have been booked under the Official Secrets Act.

“The Pakistan high commission official was the kingpin. He used to recruit Indians for spying and send information to Pakistan… The (spying) module was active for one-and-a-half years. We were working (to bust) it for the past six months,” Yadav said.

“We recovered documents on defence deployment and border area maps. They had lists of BSF men who were deployed, transferred or retired,” he claimed.

Pakistani High Commissioner Abdul Basit was summoned to the Indian External Affairs Ministry where Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar conveyed the decision of the government of India about declaring Akhtar as persona non grata.



But Pakistan strongly contested the Indian claims and said Akhtar was lifted by the Indian authorities on ‘false and unsubstantiated charges.’ The Foreign Office said in a statement that he was, however, released in about three hours on intervention by the High Commission.

“We condemn the detention and manhandling of our diplomatic official,” FO spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said rebutting the Indian claims that he was treated well during the detention. Pakistan also strongly denounced the Indian government’s decision to expel Akhtar saying the Indian action was in violation of the Vienna Convention as well as norms of the diplomatic conduct especially in an already vitiated atmosphere.

“Pakistan High Commission has always been working within the parameters of international law and diplomatic norms,” Zakaria insisted. “This act clearly reflects Indian actions to shrink diplomatic space for the working of Pakistan High Commission.”

The spokesperson further said the Indian attempts to escalate the tensions and divert the international attention from the grave human rights violations being perpetrated by the Indian occupation forces in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir could never succeed.  “Pakistan urges the international community to take notice of the Indian designs,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, as was expected, in a tit for tat move, Pakistan’s foreign secretary summoned the Indian High Commissioner and conveyed the decision of the Government of Pakistan to declare Surjeet Singh, an official of the Indian High Commission, as persona non grata. “The Foreign Secretary expressed deep concern over the activities of the Indian official that were in violation of the Vienna Convention and the established diplomatic norms,” the FO statement said. “The Indian High Commission has been asked to make urgent necessary arrangements for Surjeet Singh and his family to leave Pakistan by 29 October 2016,” it added.

Pakistan and India have a history of declaring each other’s diplomats as persona non grata in the past as well. At the height of tensions between the two countries following the attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001, New Delhi expelled Pakistan’s current Ambassador to Washington Jalil Abas Jilani, who at that time was deputy High Commissioner, on charges of spying.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 28^th, 2016.