New Delhi: India, on Wednesday, expelled a Pakistani official posted at the Pakistan high commission in New Delhi, declaring him persona non grata for engaging in activities inconsistent with his diplomatic status. The official has been ordered to leave the country within 24 hours.
He becomes the second Pakistani diplomat to be expelled by India in less than 10 days. On May 13, a Pakistani diplomat was asked to leave India on similar grounds.
“The Charge d’Affaires Pakistan High Commission was issued a demarche to this effect today. He was asked to strictly ensure that none of the Pakistani diplomats or officials in India misuse their privileges and status in any manner,” ministry of external affairs said in a statement after Wednesday’s expulsion.
This is the norm followed whenever a country expels the diplomat of another country. Diplomats generally enjoy a certain level of immunity in the country they serve in. Expulsion takes place only if such privileges are misused for acts such as espionage.
Investigators now say that Jyoti Malhotra, the Indian YouTuber arrested on charges of spying for Pakistan was nurtured and introduced to handlers in Pakistan by a diplomat of that country in India.
Being called persona non grata means a foreign diplomat is no longer welcome in the country. The government asks them to leave, usually without explaining why. It is the strongest way to show disapproval in diplomacy.
After the expulsion on May 13, Pakistan had retaliated by declaring an Indian diplomat persona non grata. The same is likely after Wednesday’s decision by India.
Diplomatic ties between India and Pakistan are at an all time low since the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir on April 22, in which 26 persons, mostly tourists from across the country, were killed. Investigations had revealed that the attack was masterminded in Pakistan. Those who carried out the attacks also included at least two Pakistanis.
India downgraded diplomatic ties with Pakistan immediately and suspended the Indus Waters Treaty, before launching Operation Sindoor against terror installations in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
