Pakistan to expel two Indian diplomats over spying

Islamabad, Nov 2: Adding to the already fraught bilateral ties, two Indian diplomats in Pakistan are likely to be expelled after they were allegedly caught spying for Indias Research and Alysis Wing (RAW) spy agency, media reports citing sources said on Wednesday.

According to Geo News, Rajesh Kumar Agnihotri, Commercial Counsellor in the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, has been identified as a “RAW station chief”, while Balbir Singh, the First Secretary Press Information, has been identified as an officer of the Indian Intelligence Bureau (IB).

Quoting sources, the report said, both Agnihotri and Balbir were “reportedly running a network of individuals involved in subversive activities in Pakistan”. Geo quoted a source as saying that recently expelled Indian diplomat Surjeet Singh “was also a part of Balbir’s network”.

“Balbir Singh was helping the Indian IB operatives to carry out subversive activities in Pakistan,” it further added.

Last week, Pakistan had declared Indian High Commission official Surjeet Singh perso non grata and given him 48 hours to leave the country. The expulsion followed that by India of a Pakistani High Commission official in New Delhi, Mehboob Akhtar, on charges of working for the Inter-Services Intelligence spy wing.

In March, Pakistan said it had arrested a “serving Indian val intelligence officer” Kulbhushan Jadhav in Balochistan for allegedly working for RAW.

Relations between the two rivals have been strained since the past few months, following the January 2 terror attack on the Pathankot air base, which India bas blamed on terrorists from Pakistan, and the long unrest in Kashmir Valley, which India has accused Pakistan of fomenting. (IANS)