Dawn report suggests bigger spy ring, names 4 diplomats

Government sources term episode an "internal" matter of Pakistan.

Mehmood Akhtar

The diplomatic battle between neighbours heated up on Tuesday after a media report from Pakistan said Islamabad was considering withdrawal of four of its diplomats from India.

The report suggesting that the diplomats were allegedly engaged in espionage in India drew a strong response from Pakistani diplomatic sources, who dismissed the charges as baseless.

Government sources termed the episode an “internal” matter of Pakistan.

Citing sources in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad, the Karachi-based

Dawn reported that Mehmood Akhtar, the diplomat who was expelled by India on October 29 for spying, had named the four officials in a recorded statement in Delhi. The report said Akhtar alleged that a paper that he signed allegedly under pressure from the interrogators in Delhi contained the names of the first secretaries Khadim Hussein, Mudassir Cheema and Shahid Iqbal and commercial counsellor Syed Farrukh Habib.

“They took me to a police station after detaining me where I was forced to read out a written statement provided by them in which the names of the four officers were given and was told to state that they belonged to Pakistan’s intelligence services,” said the news report quoting Akhtar.

Following the report which came within two days of the return of Akhtar and a reciprocal expulsion of Indian official Surjeet Singh by Islamabad, Indian officials said that maintaining staffers in the Pakistani mission in Delhi was not in the domain of the Indian side. “It is an internal matter of the Pakistanis,” said an official source when asked to comment about the report.

The news of the possible withdrawal added to the tension as cross-border firing continued from both sides, with Pakistan summoning India’s Deputy Chief of Mission in Islamabad to protest against alleged Indian firing. “The meeting was limited to civilian casualties from firing on both sides,” said a source, explaining that pulling out Pakistani diplomats did not come up on Tuesday.

Under duress The Pakistan High Commission maintained that Akhtar was forced to sign the statement by a group of security personnel. “He was kidnapped and signed on the statement under duress. The episode shows that India is violating the Vienna Convention, which has to be upheld by both sides,” said a source at the Pakistani High Commission, alleging that India was pushing to downgrade Pakistan’s diplomatic manpower posted in Delhi.

The latest exchange acquires significance as mission-based diplomats of both countries have been at the forefront of the continuing diplomatic face-off.