ISLAMABAD / NEW DELHI, Aug 5: Pakistan and India each expelled one of the other’s diplomats on Saturday, casting a dark shadow on bilateral ties already strained in the aftermath of the Mumbai bomb blasts.

Pakistan declared senior Indian diplomat Deepak Kaul persona non grata after he was “caught red-handed receiving sensitive documents from his contact outside the capital before midday”.

A few hours later, India also declared Pakistan’s political counsellor Syed Muhammad Rafique Ahmed persona non grata.

Mr Kaul, visa counsellor at the Islamabad mission, and Mr Ahmed, first secretary in New Delhi, were both popular in social circles, and thus closely watched and targeted, diplomatic sources said.

Terming the Indian move an act of retaliation, the foreign office spokesperson said: “It is very unfortunate that New Delhi has targeted our innocent diplomat in a clear act of retaliation.”

This is the first tit-for-tat expulsion of diplomats by the two countries since February 2003 when New Delhi declared Pakistan’s deputy high commissioner persona non grata on false charges.

Knowledgeable sources said Mr Kaul was apprehended by personnel of security agencies at one of the service areas of the Islamabad-Lahore Motorway receiving sensitive documents from his contact.

“Mr Kaul was travelling in his official vehicle and driving himself,” the sources said.

On being informed about the incident, Jalil Abbas Jilani, senior director-general (South Asia division) at the foreign ministry, summoned Indian deputy high commissioner T.C.A. Raghavan who was told that Mr Kaul be withdrawn by early next week.

India said the incident could undermine ties with Pakistan.

In New Delhi, an Indian foreign ministry spokesman told reporters that Pakistan’s deputy high commissioner Mr Afrasiab had been summoned by the head of the Pakistan desk at the foreign ministry, Dilip Sinha. “It was officially conveyed to him that Syed Muhammad Rafique Ahmed, counsellor in the High Commission of Pakistan in New Delhi, had been involved in activities incompatible with his diplomatic status. The government of India has, therefore, declared him persona non grata. Mr Ahmed has been asked to leave India by August 7, 2006.

“Mr Sinha also lodged a strong protest against the ‘outrageous treatment’ meted out to Mr Kaul ‘by agencies of the government of Pakistan,” said the Indian spokesman.

In Islamabad, it is learnt, Mr Kaul was brought to the foreign office where he was handed over to the Indian deputy high commissioner at around 1pm.

Sources said that Mr Kaul, who has been serving in Islamabad for three years, had been under observation by security agencies for ‘suspicious activities for some time’.

Initially, FO spokesperson Tasnim Aslam remained tight-lipped about the incident and just said: “We have no information about it.” The foreign office broke silence only after the Indian deputy high commissioner had confirmed the fact to the media.

“Yes, we can now also confirm that today the Indian counsellor Mr Deepak Kaul has been declared persona non grata as he was caught red-handed indulging in activities that are not compatible with his status as a diplomat,” Ms Aslam told Dawn later.

“We have informed the Indian High Commission to withdraw him by next week,” she said.

The spokesperson rejected Indian allegations that Mr Kaul was handcuffed, blindfolded or maltreated by security personnel.

She said the foreign office had suggested to the Indian High Commission to keep the matter under wraps and away from the media glare. “We had initially proposed to the Indian High Commission that we should not go public with it and they agreed. But later we learnt that they confirmed it to the media and that is when we also decided to go public with it,” she said.

Answering a question, Ms Aslam said given the fact that the Indian diplomat had been caught red-handed, the question of investigating the matter did not arise.

In Delhi, Mr Sinha rejected allegations against Mr Kaul.

According to the Indian spokesman, Mr Kaul had left Islamabad early in the morning to go to Amritsar, by road, to receive his family. He had obtained written permission for his travel.

“At 7.30am, about 90km from Lahore, he was stopped by Pakistani security agencies and taken — hooded and handcuffed — to some unidentified location where he was interrogated intermittently for about five hours,” the Indian spokesman said.

Mr Sinha told Mr Afrasiab that Pakistan’s actions were in blatant violation of the Vienna Convention and the Code of Conduct for Treatment of Diplomatic/Consular Personnel in India and Pakistan 1992.

“Such action could not but undermine the bilateral relations between the two countries,” Mr Sinha told Mr Afrasiab.

Mr Kaul is safe and the Indian High Commission was arranging for his return to India by Monday.

The Indian spokesman also rejected the view that Islamabad wanted to keep the incident under wraps and that it were the Indian officials who gave out the information.

He declined to say how the incident would impact on the India-Pakistan peace talks.

A Pakistani diplomat in Delhi told Dawn that the Pakistan High Commission had issued a letter denying Indian charges against Mr Ahmed.

Indian officials in Islamabad said Mr Kaul was arrested while having tea at a kiosk on the motorway.