India expels another official of Pakistan High Commission

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the official has been given 24 hours to leave the country.

New Delhi: India has expelled another official of the High Commission of Pakistan in New Delhi and asked the top diplomat of the neighbouring country posted in the national capital to leave India within 24 hours.

The Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi issued a démarche to Saad Ahmad Warraich, the Charge d’Affaires of the High Commission of Pakistan, conveying the decision of the government to declare the official persona non grata for “indulging in activities not in keeping with his official status in India”.

The Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi also asked the Charge d’Affaires of the High Commission of Pakistan to strictly ensure that none of the Pakistani diplomats or officials in India misuse their privileges and status in any manner.

This was the second official of Islamabad’s diplomatic mission in New Delhi to be expelled from India, after an espionage network was unearthed following the arrest of at least two women, including a YouTube vlogger.

Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish, who was working at Pakistan’s mission in India, was expelled from India on May 13. He was found to be running the espionage network, which was unearthed in Haryana and Punjab.

New Delhi acted against the second official of the High Commission of Pakistan, as he too was believed to be involved in running the spy networks in India.

The espionage network was unearthed around the same time, when India launched Operation Sindoor and carried out attacks on terrorist camps in Pakistan and areas under the control of Pakistan on May 7 – a fortnight after the April 22 killing of 26 people at Baisaran near Pahalgam in J&K by terrorists owing allegiance to the Lashkar-e-Taiba, based in the neighbouring country. Pakistan retaliated by carrying out attacks on civilians and military facilities in India. The cross-border military flare-up came to a halt on May 10, after the two sides reached an understanding.

Islamabad in August 2019 had made New Delhi withdraw Ajay Bisaria, India’s then High Commissioner to Pakistan, in the wake of the Modi government’s move on J&K. Pakistan also had not sent its newly appointed High Commissioner to India, Moin-ul-Haq, to New Delhi. Less than a year later, India and Pakistan in June 2020 downgraded diplomatic relations between the two nations, withdrawing half of the officials posted in the high commissions of the respective countries in each other’s capitals.

New Delhi on April 23 – a day after the J&K carnage – further brought down the number of personnel of the high commissions of India and Pakistan in each other’s capitals from the existing 55 to only 30. New Delhi expelled Pakistan’s three diplomats – Defence and Army Advisor Brig. Mudassir Saeed, Air Advisor Group Captain Tahir Mahmood Anjum and Naval Advisor Captain Rameez Niaz – from India on April 23.

India also decided to withdraw its Defence and Military Advisor as well as Naval Advisor from its mission in the capital of Pakistan. The post of the Air Advisor at the High Commission of India in Islamabad was already vacant. Five support staff of the service advisors were also withdrawn from each of the high commissions.