India, Pak expel embassy staff

ISLAMABAD, Dec 19 (PTI) — India and Pakistan expelled one staff member of each other’s High Commissions in New Delhi and Islamabad on charges of espionage.

India first expelled a staff member of the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi on Friday declaring him persona non grata (PNG), reliable sources said here.

Pakistan retaliated by expelling a staff member of the visa section of the Indian High Commission here accusing him of indulging in activities incompatible with his official status, an expression used in diplomatic parlance for spying, the sources said.

The two expelled staff members at the embassies have been given one week’s time to leave the country.

Both the countries, however, are keeping the latest round of expulsion a secret and no official confirmation was available.

This is the third time this year that the two countries have expelled staff from each other’s missions. On the last two occasions India had expelled first and Pakistan had retaliated.

In all the three cases it was the staff members of the visa sections that have been expelled from both sides.