The Hindu : BJP for closure of Pak. mission

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 09, 2003

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BJP for closure of Pak. mission

By Our Special Correspondent

New Delhi Feb. 8. The BJP today suggested closure of the Pakistan High Commission here, if it continued to promote anti-India activities. It also endorsed the decision to expel Charge d' Affairs, Jalil Abbas Jilani.

The party spokesperson, V. K. Malhotra, accused the High Commission of being the nerve centre of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) activities for the past several years. He also charged them of indulging in espionage under the garb of diplomatic immunity.

Mr. Malhotra was critical of Pakistan's retaliatory action, saying ``Islamabad has acted on frivolous charges, while India has gone by hard evidence.''

The Congress said the Government action of expelling Mr. Jilani and four Pakistan High Commission staffers was justified, if the information at its disposal was correct. The party spokesperson, Abhishek Singhvi, told the media that this kind of evidence was the exclusive domain of the Government and if such information was indeed available, then the action was justified.

Describing the charges against Mr. Jilani as very grave in nature, Mr. Singhvi expressed the hope that the Government had acted on the basis of the information available with it.

The Government could consider sharing the information ``subject to the demands of national security and policing, to allay doubts that people may have on the issue''

On the BJP spokesperson's suggestion of closure of Pakistan High Commission, Mr. Singhvi said it would be premature to react, as it was only a demand of the party and not of the Government.

Mr. Singhvi, however, pointed out that ``the closure of the mission was an extreme step, which should be avoided unless there is compelling evidence of crminal misconduct''. Mr. Singhvi pointed out that the Government appears to have admitted that no such evidence exists because it had asked for a replacement for Mr. Jilani.

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