Relations between India and Pakistan suffered a major blow after Islamabad expelled an Indian diplomat, Mr Deepak Kaul, on Saturday. New Delhi responded by expelling a Pakistani diplomat in what is seen as a sign of worsening relations between the two countries, particularly after the July 11 Mumbai serial blasts. New Delhi added that “such action could not but undermine the bilateral relations between the two countries”.

New Delhi summoned the Pakistan deputy high commissioner to the ministry of external affairs and conveyed its decision to expel a counsellor in the Pakistan high commission in New Delhi, Mr Syed Mohammed Rafiq Ahmed, after Islamabad declared counsellor (visa) Deepak Kaul persona non grata and gave him 48 hours to leave Pakistan.

Mr Kaul had left Islamabad early on Saturday morning to go to Amritsar by road to fetch his family. As required by the government of Pakistan, he had obtained written permission for his travel. At 7.30 am, about 90 km from Lahore, he was stopped by Pakistani security agencies and taken, hooded and handcuffed, to an unidentified location where he was interrogated intermittently for about five hours.

Thereafter he was brought to the Pakistan foreign ministry.The Indian high commission, however, said Mr Kaul, a counsellor at the Indian high commission, had gone to Lahore to receive his family at the Wagah border crossing. Indian diplomats who met Pakistan foreign office officials in Islamabad defended their colleague, saying he was not involved in any activity that broke diplomatic norms. “Our high commission was informed of his being declared persona non grata. The high commission was also informed that Mr Kaul should leave Pakistan by August 7. The diplomat was then handed over to our high commission,” the MEA said.

In Islamabad, Pakistan foreign office spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam told this newspaper: “Deepak Kaul was arrested in Lahore by the law enforcing agencies when he was engaged in activities contrary to his official assignments. Some unwanted documents were also recovered from him. He was shifted to Islamabad and handed over to a group of Indian diplomats and asked to leave Pakistan within 48 hours.”

She added: “There are rules and regulations under which diplomats work the world over. If someone tries to cross that line, he or she is not welcome.” Ms Aslam, however, said: “I don’t think the Kaul issue has anything to do with talks. This is just a routine matter. Pakistan wants friendly relations with India, like all other countries.”

The MEA said the deputy high commissioner of Pakistan was summoned by joint secretary Dilip Sinha on Saturday evening. “It was officially conveyed to him that Syed Mohammad Rafique Ahmed, counsellor in the high commission of Pakistan in New Delhi, had been involved in activities incompatible with his diplomatic status. The government of India has, therefore, declared him persona non grata. Mr Ahmed has been asked to leave by August 7,” the MEA statement read.

The MEA statement added, “During the meeting, Mr Dilip Sinha lodged a strong protest against the outrageous treatment meted out to Deepak Kaul, counsellor of the high commission of India, Islamabad, by agencies of the government of Pakistan and categorically rejected allegations that Mr Kaul was engaged in activities incompatible with his diplomatic status. The officer was not in possession of any sensitive documents allegedly handed over to him by a so-called contact. There must have obviously been planted on him in order to falsely implicate him.”

“Mr Sinha pointed out to the [Pakistan] deputy high commissioner that the actions of the government of Pakistan were in blatant violation of the Vienna Convention as well as the Code of Conduct for Treatment of Diplomatic/Consular Personnel in India and Pakistan, 1992,” the statement added. The composite dialogue process between India and Pakistan has already been discontinued in the wake of the July 11 Mumbai train blasts as Indian security agencies suspect the involvement of terrorist groups based in Pakistan.