Pak expels B'deshi diplomat; Dhaka calls it 'face-saving' move

In a tit-for-tat, Pakistan has expelled a Bangladeshi woman diplomat and asked her to leave the country by tomorrow, days after a Pakistani female diplomat was sent packing over accusations of having links with the JMB militant group.
Pakistan's Foreign Office has issued an order for the expulsion of Bangladeshi diplomat Moushumi Rahman, Samaa TV reported.
Islamabad's move came apparently in a retaliation to the expulsion of a Pakistani diplomat from Dhaka in December.
Rahman, a Counsellor and Head of Chancery in Islamabad, has been given till tomorrow to leave Pakistan.
A Bangladeshi Foreign Ministry official preferring anonymity told PTI in Dhaka that Pakistan yesterday summoned Bangladesh's High Commissioner in Islamabad Sohrab Hossain.

"Moushumi Rahman accompanied our high commissioner at the Pakistan's Foreign Ministry where a senior officer of theirs verbally asked (Hossain) to send Moushumi back to Dhaka by Thursday, citing no reason," the official said.

Bangladesh today deplored the Pakistani counter-action, calling it a "face-saving" move and asked Islamabad to provide reasons for the expulsion.
"This appears to be a face-saving move on the part of Pakistan as it was forced to recall a diplomat of theirs from Dhaka," State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam said.
"Such a move is not conducive for friendly ties between the two countries," he told reporters.

"They could not explain why (Rahman) has to be recalled." However, Samaa TV reported that the Bangladeshi woman diplomat was expelled for "violation of diplomatic norms."
Bangladesh and Pakistan have been embroiled in diplomatic spat over the trial of 1971 war crimes and Islamabad's withdrawal of the "terror-linked" diplomat from Dhaka.
The Pakistani move appears a tit-for-tat after one of its diplomats, Fareena Arshad, was withdrawn on December 23 following accusations of terror financing, nearly 12 months after Dhaka expelled another diplomat on identical charges.
Alam said: "We will show no impunity if anyone takes his or her diplomatic immunity to get engaged in any activity to create a law and order situation in our country or try to affect Bangladesh's image."

According to reports, Dhaka had asked Pakistan to withdraw Arshad after a detained operative of outlawed Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) revealed that the outfit maintained links with her for financing.
The Pakistani High Commission had debunked the allegation as "baseless" and said the police claims were "imaginary."
Last month, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry voiced "deep concern and anguish" over the executions of war criminals.
Officially, three million people were killed during the nine-month long Liberation War against Pakistan.
Several Bangladeshi ministers have blasted Pakistan for allegedly promoting militancy. Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan has said that the "Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka has become a den of militants.