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Pak. expels four Indian personnel in retaliation

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD Jan. 23. In a retaliatory move, Pakistan today expelled three diplomats and a staffer of the Indian High Commission on the ground that their "activities were not compatible with their official status." They were asked to leave the country within 48 hours.

There is little doubt that the development is a direct response to New Delhi's decision on Wednesday asking four personnel of the Pakistan High Commission to leave within two days.

The developments during the last four days mark a new low in the already strained ties between India and Pakistan. There seems to be no end to the blame game, which began with the alleged harassment of the Acting High Commissioner of Pakistan, Jaleel Abbas Jilani, and took a nasty turn with the blockade of the official flag car of the Charge d'Affaires of the Indian mission, Sudhir Vyas.

The diplomats who have been declared personae non-grata (PNG) by Pakistan are Vipin Handa, Counsellor, R. P. Singh, Second Secretary and Vakil Ramdas, Attaché. The expelled staffer is P. H. Sundaram. All the four are from the visa section and it is after a gap of several years that three diplomats have been expelled.

Islamabad's decision to target the visa section will leave it without an officer. It may not, however, make much of a difference in effect as issuing of visas has been drastically declining in recent weeks.

The Pakistan Foreign Office summoned Mr. Vyas and read out a brief statement declaring the four officials PNG. The reason cited was their "involvement in activities incompatible with their status as members of the diplomatic mission.'' While all the four are required to leave Pakistan within 48 hours, their families have been permitted seven days as provided for in the Bilateral Code of Conduct signed in August 1992.

`Charges baseless'

Mr. Vyas said there was no truth in the allegations. "It is a simple case of tit for tat response. The allegations levelled against our colleagues are totally baseless,'' he told Indian journalists on his return from the office.

Mr. Vyas was also told by the Pakistan Foreign Office that "reciprocating the Indian decision to cut down the strength of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi to 51 personnel, the Government of Pakistan has also decided to apply the same staff ceiling on the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.''

In the wake of the December 13 Parliament attack, New Delhi had recalled the Indian High Commissioner, cut the staff strength in the mission here by half, terminated the Samjautha Express and the Lahore Express and suspended the air links. Pakistan followed suit.

As a result of the decision to halve the mission size, the strength of the Indian and Pakistan missions in Islamabad and New Delhi were down to 55. It now stands further reduced to 51.

The personnel declared PNG on both sides can travel by road. It is a concession of mutual convenience considering that since January 1, 2002, the air, rail and road links between the two countries stand suspended. In June, India agreed to lift the ban on over-flight facilities to Pakistani aircraft on a reciprocal basis. However, Islamabad did not respond to the gesture, saying New Delhi's move was ``self-serving.''

The only positive development today was that the alleged "aggressive surveillance'' on Mr. Vyas, which has been on since Saturday, was ``less objectionable.'' However, though the ``situation has eased a little, it is more than the normal surveillance,'' Mr. Vyas said.

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