India declares Pakistani official persona non grata, second in a month

The Charge d'Affaires of the Pakistan High Commission was issued a demarche to this effect today

The Government of India on Wednesday declared a Pakistani official persona non grata for engaging in activities not consistent with his official status in the country.

 

The official, who was working at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, has been asked to leave India within 24 hours, the Ministry of External Affairs said in an official statement.

 

According to the MEA, the Chargé d’Affaires of the Pakistan High Commission was issued a demarche to this effect today.  "He was asked to strictly ensure that none of the Pakistani diplomats or officials in India misuse their privileges and status in any manner," the MEA said in a statement. 

This is the second Pakistani High Commission official to be expelled in less than a month. On May 13, the government had declared another official of the High Commission persona non grata. 

 

India dismisses Pakistan's allegations over Balochistan blast

 

Earlier today, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) also strongly refuted Pakistan’s claims that India was behind a recent deadly bombing in Khuzdar, Balochistan. The Indian government described the accusations as completely unfounded.

 

“India rejects the baseless allegations made by Pakistan regarding Indian involvement with the incident in Khuzdar earlier today (May 21). India condoles the loss of lives in all such incidents,” said Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the MEA, in an official statement.

 

Jaiswal further stated that Pakistan often tries to shift blame onto India in an attempt to avoid dealing with its own domestic problems. “In order to divert attention from its reputation as the global epicentre of terrorism and to hide its own gross failings, it has become second nature for Pakistan to blame India for all its internal issues,” he said.

 

“This attempt to hoodwink the world is doomed to fail,” Jaiswal added, stressing that such tactics would not succeed in misleading the international community.