Pakistan expels official of Indian High Court in Islamabad

New Delhi: Pakistan on Thursday expelled an official of the High Commission of India in Islamabad in retaliation for recent similar moves by New Delhi.

The Government of Pakistan has declared a staff member of the High Commission of India in Islamabad as persona non grata for engaging in activities inconsistent with his privileged status, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the neighbouring country stated in a press release. The concerned official has been asked to leave Pakistan within 24 hours, it added.

India’s Charge d’Affaires was called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad to convey that none of the diplomats or staff members of New Delhi’s mission in the capital of Pakistan should misuse their privilege and status in any manner, according to the press release.

New Delhi on Wednesday expelled an official of the High Commission of Pakistan in the capital of India and asked the top diplomat of the neighbouring country posted in the national capital that no one working at the mission should misuse the privileges in any manner.

He 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, and a man from Haryana and Punjab.