Pakistan expels India diplomat in tit-for-tat move

Pakistan has declared an Indian diplomat persona non grata and given him 48 hours to leave the country, in a thinly-veiled tit-for-tat attempt that comes a day after India said it would deport a Pakistani consular official.

Late on Thursday night, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it had declared Indian diplomat Surjeet Singh persona non grata and that it had informed the Indian High Commission, which is India’s diplomatic mission in Pakistan, of the decision.

The statement said Singh was accused of activities “that were in violation of the Vienna Convention and the established diplomatic norms.”

No specific details were given.

An aide to India’s prime minister in New Delhi said the Indian government was looking into the matter.

On Thursday morning, India had said it had declared a Pakistani consular official persona non grata for “espionage activities” against New Delhi.

Mehmood Akhtar, the visa official at the Pakistani mission, had been briefly detained by Indian police on Wednesday outside the gates to the Delhi Zoo, where he had met two Indian associates whom police believe he had recruited to spy for him.

The Pakistani diplomat and his alleged Indian accomplices were found in possession of forged documents, defense-related maps, deployment charts and lists of officers working along India’s border with Pakistan, Indian police said in a statement.

An Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman said the man, who was released from custody under diplomatic immunity rules, must leave the country in 48-hours.

SS