Pak hopes expulsions won’t spoil ties

ibnlive.com is on mobile now. Read news, watch videos
be a Citizen Journalist. Log on to m.ibnlive.com NOW!

Related Stories

Top Headlines

Top Videos

Most Popular

• Pranab has promises to keep in Budget of hope 

• Budget and you: How policies impact your life | Secrecy Cordon around the Budget 

• 30 feared dead in explosion at firework factory in MP 

• Youth shot dead by cops had 26 injury marks 

• Varun fears threat to life; Maneka slams Govt 

• CNN-IBN debate: Homosexuality vs Indian morality 

• CPI-M Central Committee to act to curb Kerala infights 

• Kargil victory was certain: ex-army chief | Pay Tribute 

• British Islamic group plans coup in Pakistan: report 

• Scrap EVMs, let's go back to ballot, says Advani 

• Pranab has promises to keep in Budget of hope 

• Youth shot dead by cops had 26 injury marks 

• Kargil victory was certain: ex-army chief 

• Bollywood stars sizzle at the IIFA fiesta 

• IBNFocus: TDS process simplified 

• No minister contacted Madras HC judge: CJI 

• Scrap EVMs, let's go back to ballot, says Advani 

• CNN-IBN debate: Homosexuality vs Indian morality 

• Watch: Parties react to HC judgement on gays 

• Railways fail to provide basic facilities to passengers 

• Michael Jackson to be buried without his brain 

• Scrap EVMs, let's go back to ballot, says Advani 

• Shiney denies he had sex with domestic help 

• British spy chief's cover blown on Facebook 

• British Islamic group plans coup in Pakistan: report 

• Youth shot dead by cops had 26 injury marks 

• Kargil victory was certain: ex-army chief 

• Varun fears threat to life; Maneka slams Govt 

• Kambakkht Ishq is not vulgar or offensive: Akshay 

• No minister contacted Madras HC judge: CJI 

Photogallery

Find us on Facebook | Join IBNLive community

Stay ahead with G-Talk Buddy | Click now!

Islamabad (Pakistan): The expulsion of an Indian diplomat from Pakistan amid allegations of spying should not affect the peace process between the two countries, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

Pakistan on Saturday ordered an Indian visa official, who was allegedly caught with ''sensitive documents,'' to leave Pakistan, prompting a reciprocal expulsion of a Pakistani diplomat from India.

The tit-for-tat expulsions raised concerns for the future of the neighboring countries' peace dialogue, already shaken by allegations that Pakistani-based militants were responsible for commuter train bombings in Mumbai that killed 207 people.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam played down those concerns on Monday.

''In our view, the expulsions should make no difference to the peace process,'' she told a news conference in Islamabad.

Pakistan accused Deepak Kaul, the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, of ''undesirable activities,'' a term that Pakistani officials often use to refer to a diplomat suspected of being a spy.

India denied Kaul was involved in any wrongdoing.

Kaul arrived in India on Monday afternoon and denied carrying secret documents.

''I was intercepted, picked up, roughed up and handcuffed by Pakistani officials while on the way to Wagah to receive my family,'' Kaul said.

''I am disappointed with the way Pakistan treated me,'' Kaul said of the five hours that he was held.

Also on Saturday, India ordered the expulsion of Mohammed Rafique, a visa official at Pakistan's High Commission in New Delhi.

Rafique, his wife and their two children arrived on Monday evening in the eastern Pakistan city of Lahore on a flight from the Indian capital, an official at Lahore airport said on condition of anonymity because he lacked the authority to make formal press statements.