India expels four Pakistani officials on claims of spying

NEW DELHI, India -- India ordered the expulsion of four Pakistani embassy officials Wednesday, another indication that despite pulling back from war footing, neither of the nuclear-armed rivals is in the mood for improved relations.

The four officials, including two high-ranking diplomats, were told to depart within 48 hours, Foreign Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said.

Sarna implied the four were spying, saying they "were found indulging in activities incompatible with their official status."

The expulsions came as the two nations, which narrowly averted a war last year, accused each other of harassing their diplomats, increased their hostile rhetoric and conducted more missile tests.

Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Kamran Niaz called the Indian move "unfortunate."

"It is yet another action to vitiate the atmosphere which is already very bad. They have upped the ante and created another unpleasant development," he said in Islamabad.

Niaz would not say whether Pakistan would reciprocate and expel Indian diplomats. "We have to evaluate what they have done and the government will take appropriate action," he said.

Those asked to leave the Pakistan High Commission, or embassy, are two diplomats -- Mansoor Saeed Sheikh and Mian Muhammad Asif -- and two staff members, Muhammad Tasneem Khan and Sher Muhammad.

"These officials were declared persona non grata and the Pakistan government was asked to withdraw them immediately within 48 hours," Sarna said.

India and Pakistan routinely expel each other's diplomats on spying charges but only occasionally extend such action to high-ranking diplomats.

India and Pakistan called home their high commissioners from each other's capitals after a Dec. 13, 2001, attack on the Indian Parliament that New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based guerrilla groups and Islamabad's spy agency.

Pakistan and the groups denied the charge, but India threatened military retaliation. Both countries massed hundreds of thousands of troops along their border and almost went to war last May.

War fears subsided, however, after diplomatic efforts by the international community, and many of the troops have since been pulled back. But diplomatic sanctions remain in force.

G. Parthasarathy, a former Indian ambassador in Pakistan, said the expulsions would not heighten tensions along the border.

"This would have no bearing on the reality of the situation on the ground," Parthasarathy said.

Sarna also repeated charges that India's senior diplomat in Islamabad, Sudhir Vyas, was repeatedly harassed by Pakistani security agents in the past five days.

Pakistani intelligence agents stopped Vyas from leaving his house and used four vehicles to box in his car on Saturday and Monday, he said.

"Such harassment is unprecedented and unacceptable," he said.

Pakistan also claims Indian security agents harassed its top diplomat in the Indian capital earlier this month.

Its Deputy High Commissioner to India, Jalil Abbas Jillani, complained that Indian intelligence agents followed his car too closely and pursued him into a restaurant, according to newspaper reports. Pakistan protested formally to India on Jan. 7.

India rejected Pakistan's accusation.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars and came to the brink of a fourth last year, following the attack on India's Parliament.