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Indian diplomat expelled

Nirupama Subramanian

"Deepak Kaul indulged in anti-Pakistan activities"

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday expelled an Indian diplomat alleging he was "caught red-handed indulging in anti-Pakistan activities."

The last time India and Pakistan resorted to such action was in February 2003 when they expelled the charge d'affaires at each other's down-graded missions. However, there was at least one instance of a quiet tit-for-tat expulsion of non-diplomatic staff after that.

Deepak Kaul, counsellor in the Indian High Commission visa section, was "forcibly intercepted" while he was travelling by road to the Wagah border en route to Amritsar to fetch his family, officials at the Indian High Commission here said.

The officials said Mr. Kaul, had stopped to have tea when he was accosted by eight men, bundled into a car, "hooded and handcuffed" and taken to an "undisclosed location" where he was held and questioned for over five hours before being brought to the Foreign Ministry.

The Ministry handed him over to the Indian High Commission with the information that Mr. Kaul had been declared persona non grata and must leave Pakistan within 48 hours.

The Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said Mr. Kaul was indulging in activities "incompatible with his diplomatic status" and had been asked to leave Pakistan "early next week."

"He was caught red-handed," she said. Asked for more details, Ms. Aslam said all she could disclose was that he was "indulging in activities that were anti-Pakistan."

She said Pakistan was aware of the charged atmosphere between the two countries but "was left with no other option" other than to act against the diplomat. Some reports said Mr. Kaul was caught with "sensitive documents."

Indian officials refuted the allegation. They said there was nothing clandestine about Mr. Kaul's movements as every Indian diplomat had to submit all information about his or her travel plans within and out of the country, including the mode of transport, the vehicle number and the route, a week in advance to Pakistani authorities.

While the two countries have several expulsions between them, Indian officials said this was "the first time a diplomat had been hooded and handcuffed and kept incommunicado", and the first time anyone had been caught while on his way to India.

The two sides had an informal understanding from 2003 that any expulsions will be done quietly, and without affront to the dignity of the persons concerned. Earlier this year, a staffer at the Indian High Commission was expelled by Pakistan without publicity after a similarly quiet expulsion by India of a staffer at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.

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