Diplomats expelled in tit-for-tat move
New Delhi yesterday announced it was expelling a Pakistani visa official for suspected spying, with Islamabad responding by saying it would send back an Indian diplomat in an apparent tit-for-tat move.
The expulsions come as tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours are running high over their disputed territory of Kashmir.
New Delhi police said the Pakistani official had been recruiting Indian nationals for two and a half years to spy for Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in return for cash.
The official, named as Mehmood Akhtar, was detained on Wednesday with documents in his possession on Indian troop deployment along the border, Indian police told a press conference in Delhi. Akhtar was later released.
India's foreign secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar summoned Pakistan's high commissioner to inform him of the decision to expel the official within 48 hours.
Pakistan's foreign secretary then summoned the Indian High Commissioner yesterday night to say Islamabad would also be sending back a diplomat over alleged improper activities.
It named the official as Surjeet Singh and added he and his family would also be required to leave within two days.
Tensions between India and Pakistan have soared since a raid last month on an Indian army base near the de-facto border dividing Kashmir killed 19 soldiers, the worst such attack in more than a decade.
India blamed militants in Pakistan and said it had responded by carrying out strikes across the heavily-militarised border, although Islamabad denies these took place.
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