January 24, 2003	Friday	Ziqa’ad 20, 1423

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NEW DELHI, Jan 23: India on Thursday slammed Pakistan’s expulsion of its four officials from the high commission in Islamabad as a move motivated by baseless charges.

However, key western countries watching what they said could be a fresh spiral of tensions between Islamabad and Delhi, expressed serious concern over the intensifying diplomatic row.

“Could this be a new spiral of tensions between the two countries? If so, it’s a seriously worrying matter,” a western diplomat based in New Delhi told Dawn. “We want to know why this looks like getting out of control and who could be behind it.”

India had expelled two diplomats and two staffers at the Pakistan High Commission on Wednesday.

All the four expelled Indian officials were in the visa section of the high commission.

India termed the move an act of retaliation executed on baseless and false charges. “This is a clear act of retaliation to the well considered decision taken by the government of India yesterday,” foreign ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna told reporters.

The expulsions from both sides came close on the heels of allegations of harassment of each other’s acting heads by their respective sleuths, beginning with a report by Pakistan’s mission on Jan 7 that its acting high commissioner Jalil Abbas Jilani was being tailgated.

India’s Charge d’Affaires Sudhir Vyas subsequently complained of harassment by Pakistani intelligence officials.

Mr Jilani says the diplomatic standoff was engineered by New Delhi to whip up nationalist hysteria during elections in some states due next month.