ISLAMABAD, November 3 (Reuters): Pakistan on Thursday named eight Indian diplomats it accuses of espionage and terrorism, as tension mounted between the nuclear-armed rivals following days of artillery duels and skirmishes on the border dividing the disputed Kashmir region. The foreign ministry said six Indian embassy staff 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 overnight. In response, India said it “completely rejected the baseless and unsubstantiated allegations” leveled by Pakistan against officials at its high commission in Islamabad. Rajesh Kumar Agnihotri, a commercial counsellor, was named by the Pakistan foreign ministry as RAW’s station chief in Islamabad. The foreign ministry statement gave an eight-point list of the diplomats’ espionage activities. It accused them of fuelling instability in Pakistan’s Sindh and Baluchistan 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. They were also accused of liaising with factions of the Pakistani Taliban and of working to damage Pakistan’s relations with western neighbour Afghanistan. It was not immediately clear if the diplomats would be expelled by Pakistan or withdrawn by India, which condemned the publication of their names and images and called on Pakistan to ensure their safety. 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 The foreign ministry also said Pakistan had withdrawn six diplomats from its mission in India after Indian media reported they had been involved in spying. Vikas Swarup, spokesman of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, told a news briefing that Islamabad had withdrawn its diplomats after some were named by the Pakistani embassy worker that it had expelled last week. The allegations against the Indian diplomats in Islamabad were “an afterthought and a crude attempt to target these officials for no fault of their own”, said Swarup, adding that Pakistan’s actions added to security risks in the region. 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. On the same day, the press wing of Pakistan’s military said India had violated a 2003 ceasefire in Kashmir 178 times this year, killing 19 civilians. Artillery duels and skirmishing have recently intensified along the disputed frontier running through the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. India says officials ‘falsely implicated’ New Delhi, November 3 (IANS): India on Thursday criticised Pakistan’s “tit for tat” move to name eight Indian officials posted at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad for “anti-Pakistan activities”, and said the officials have been “falsely implicated”. “We regard this as an unfortunate incident. Pakistan is resorting to tit for tat without any real case against these officials, and we hope that such incidents do not recur in the future,” Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said. The spokesperson said the allegations were “false” and had the potential to affect the activities of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad. “We expelled only one person from India for anti-India activities. After that Pakistan decided to withdraw on its own six of their staffers. And then they decided to put in the public domain details of eight of our diplomats and officials whose safety and security has been completely compromised,” he said. Asked if the eight officials will be brought back, Swarup said the Indian government will take a decision soon “keeping their safety in mind”. “A decision will be taken by government keeping their safety in mind. It is a procedural issue, and a decision will be taken soon,” he said. The spokesperson added that the officials there were working on promoting peace between India and Pakistan. “We expect the Pakistan government to take all steps to ensure the safety of these officials,” Swarup said.
