Dawn.com, Islamabad :
The government is considering pulling out from India four of its officers posted in Pakistan’s High Commission in New Delhi, days after Indian authorities declared one official persona non grata.
“This is under consideration. A final decision would be taken shortly,” a source at the Foreign Office said on Monday. The names of the officers – commercial counsellor Syed Furrukh Habib and first secretaries Khadim Hussain, Mudassir Cheema and Shahid Iqbal – were made public after Indian officials released to media a recorded statement of a high commission staffer Mehmood Akhtar, who was expelled from India after being declared persona non grata. Mr Akhtar told Dawn that he had given the statement under duress.
“They took me to a police station after detaining me where I was forced to read out a written statement provided by them in which the names of the four officers were given and was told to state that they belonged to Pakistan’s intelligence services,” the former high commission official, who returned to Islamabad last week, said.
The government is considering pulling out from India four of its officers posted in Pakistan’s High Commission in New Delhi, days after Indian authorities declared one official persona non grata.
“This is under consideration. A final decision would be taken shortly,” a source at the Foreign Office said on Monday. The names of the officers – commercial counsellor Syed Furrukh Habib and first secretaries Khadim Hussain, Mudassir Cheema and Shahid Iqbal – were made public after Indian officials released to media a recorded statement of a high commission staffer Mehmood Akhtar, who was expelled from India after being declared persona non grata. Mr Akhtar told Dawn that he had given the statement under duress.
“They took me to a police station after detaining me where I was forced to read out a written statement provided by them in which the names of the four officers were given and was told to state that they belonged to Pakistan’s intelligence services,” the former high commission official, who returned to Islamabad last week, said.
