The months-long Pakistan-India tensions over Kashmir unrest and border skirmishes worsened this week with allegations against diplomats assigned in Islamabad and New Delhi.
On Thursday, Pakistan accused eight Indian diplomats of carrying out espionage and terrorism. The Foreign Ministry said six Indian embassy staff posted in Islamabad actually worked for New Delhi’s Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) intelligence agency, while two were operatives for the Intelligence Bureau agency.
Their names were leaked to Pakistani media on Wednesday evening.
However, there was no word whether the diplomats would be expelled by Pakistan or withdrawn by India, which condemned the publication of their names and images and called on Pakistan to ensure their safety.
Islamabad’s move follows New Delhi’s treatment of Pakistani staff the same way.
Last week, India and Pakistan both expelled one diplomat from each other’s embassies, accusing them of spying.
The foreign ministry also said Pakistan had withdrawn six diplomats from its mission in India after Indian media reported they had been involved in spying.
Vikas Swarup, spokesman of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs has said that Islamabad had withdrawn its diplomats after some were named by the Pakistani embassy worker that it had expelled last week.
India summoned the Pakistani deputy high commissioner on Wednesday to express its “grave concern and strong protest” over the denouncement of its diplomats in Islamabad.
Meanwhile, India has rejected allegations” leveled by Pakistan against officials at its high commission in Islamabad.
But Pakistan said the Indian staffers were involved in fuelling instability in Pakistan’s Sindh and Balochistan provinces, as well as sabotaging its most vital economic project, the $46-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), involving transport and energy infrastructure projects to link China with Pakistan’s coast on the Arabian Sea.
The foreign ministry statement gave an eight-point list of the diplomats’ espionage activities.
They were also accused of liaising with factions of the Pakistani Taliban and of working to damage Pakistan’s relations with western neighbor Afghanistan.
The two South Asian nuclear-armed nations have been locked in a tense diplomatic standoff since July this year, when Indian forces began repressive actions against demonstrators in Indian controled part of the disputed Kashmir territory.
In recent weeks, frequent crossfire along working boundary and skirmishes on the Line of Control, dividing the disputed Kashmir region into Pakistani and Indian administered areas, has further exacerbated the tensions. Reports say more than a dozen civilians have been killed on both sides.
