The Hindu : India expels four Pak. embassy personnel

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 23, 2003

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India expels four Pak. embassy personnel

By C. Raja Mohan

NEW DELHI Jan. 22. In a signal that Indo-Pakistani relations will get a lot worse before they can get better, the Government today expelled two diplomats and two staffers from the Pakistan High Commission. The move was aimed at conveying India's extreme displeasure at the harassment of its diplomats in Islamabad that has continued despite strong protests.

Arun Kumar Singh, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, told the Acting High Commissioner of Pakistan, Jaleel Abbas Jilani, who was summoned to the Foreign Office, that the four officials should be withdrawn from India within 48 hours.

While New Delhi sees this as a calibrated response to the turn of events in Islamabad, the inevitable Pakistani reaction is bound to push the diplomatic ties between the two countries further down the spiral.

The Indian decision follows the reports that Pakistan has not put an end to the harassment of the Indian Charge d' Affaires, Sudhir Vyas, in Islamabad that had started over the weekend. Mr. Singh told Mr. Jilani that the treatment being meted out to the seniormost Indian diplomat was "completely unacceptable,'' a spokesman of the Foreign Office told reporters here. India reiterated that "it is the responsibility of Pakistan to ensure the security and safety'' of the personnel of the Indian High Commission and their families in Islamabad.

According to the spokesman, Mr. Jilani was informed that the four persons were "engaged in activities incompatible with their official status.'' The officials, declared `persona non-grata,' are the political counsellor, Mansoor Saeed Sheikh, the first secretary in the visa section, Mian Mohammad Asif, and two staffers, Mohammad Tasneem Khan and Sher Mohammad.

Sources in the Pakistani High Commission here said that the 48-hour notice was "unusually short and very punitive.'' They pointed to the great difficulties in organising the withdrawal of the officials and their families within two days.

The reaction to the expulsions from across the border would be equally harsh, if not worse. Tit for tat expulsions on charges of spying between adversarial nations are common but will have to be halted at one point or another, observers of Indo-Pak. relations say. The bout of mutual expulsions, however, that is expected to unfold in the coming days is certain to deepen the current trail of bitterness between the two nations.

With the High Commissioners in both the capitals having been pulled out more than a year ago, there is very little political communication between the two Governments. In the vitiated atmosphere, observers say, there may be more political depths to be plumbed by Islamabad and New Delhi.

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