India expels Pakistan two embassy officials for alleged spying, further straining ties
- Pakistan’s foreign ministry said it ‘strongly rejects the baseless Indian allegations’ and called the action a ‘clear violation of the Vienna Convention’
- India and Pakistan have fought three wars against each other since independence, including two over Kashmir where they have rival claims
India will defend its ‘pride’ in China border flare-up, minister says
India media said the two officials – both working in the embassy visa department – had been detained on Sunday while trying to obtain information on an Indian security establishment.
The pair returned to Pakistan via the Wagah border crossing, which has been closed for several weeks because of the coronavirus lockdown, a Pakistan embassy spokesman said.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry said it “strongly rejects the baseless Indian allegations” and called Delhi’s action a “clear violation of the Vienna Convention … especially in an already vitiated atmosphere”.
Kashmir has become a bigger source of tension in relations between the regional powers after New Delhi last August scrapped the Muslim-majority region’s semi-autonomous status and imposed a curfew. In response, Islamabad at that time said it would recall its ambassador from Delhi and send back the Indian envoy.
There have also been numerous flare-ups between the two foes, including in February 2019 when they conducted tit-for-tat air strikes.
Rebel groups in Indian-administered Kashmir have battled for decades for the region’s independence or its merger with Pakistan, and enjoy broad popular support. Since 1989 the fighting has left tens of thousands dead, mostly civilians.
India has more than 500,000 troops stationed in Kashmir, where clashes are a common occurrence but last month extended into the regional capital Srinagar. Police said a key rebel leader was killed during the first shoot-out between Indian government forces and militants to hit the city’s centre in two years.
China and India move more troops to disputed border in Ladakh region
Sunday’s expulsion order came after a German court in early May said an Indian national will stand trial there in August accused of spying on Sikh and Kashmiri communities for New Delhi’s secret service.
India has several disputes with regional superpower China along their 3,500km border.
Hundreds of Indian and Chinese troops are involved in the latest face-off concentrated in India’s Ladakh region just opposite Tibet.
New Delhi has turned down US President Donald Trump’s offer to mediate that dispute.
The Nepalese government in mid-May drew up a new political map that includes strategically important territory it disputes with India.
The new map followed protests in Nepal after its bigger neighbour inaugurated an 80km road in Uttarakhand state leading up to a disputed pass.