Pak considering to call back its four officers from India

After the Indian authorities declared one of its officials persona non grata, the Pakistan Government is now considering to call back four of its officers posted in the High Commission in New Delhi from India.

"This is under consideration. A final decision would be taken shortly," the Dawn quoted a source at the Foreign Office as saying on Monday.

The names of the officers that were made public after the Indian officials released to the media a recorded statement of a High Commission staffer Mehm­ood Akhtar, who was expelled from India after being declared persona non grata, are commercial counsellor Syed Furrukh Habib and first secretaries Khadim Huss­ain, Mudassir Cheema and Shahid Iqbal.

The diplomats and officials have been expelled in the past by Pakistan and India due to their tense relationship but it is one of those rare occasions where one of the countries has taken the extreme step of revealing the officers' identities.