Report on recalling envoys false

New Delhi: Government sources in New Delhi on Friday described as “pure fabrication” a Pakistani media report that India and Pakistan may recall each other’s High Commissioners. While it is apparent that New Delhi has no such plan, speculation is rife whether Islamabad is planning such a move, which would put pressure on New Delhi to follow suit.

Pakistan has already recalled six of its diplomats from India while India is set to recall eight of its diplomats from Islamabad. But while it may take quite some time to post new faces to their respective High Comm-issions, both countries are staring at a de-facto downsizing of their high commissions for the time-being.

News agencies also quoted sources as saying the Pakistani media report was “totally speculative and nonsensical.”

Pakistan — in what was seen as an escalatory tit-for-tat action — officially on Thursday had accused eight Indian High Commission officials of being Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) / Intelligence Bureau  agents and carrying out subversive activities in Balochistan, Karachi and Gilgit-Baltistan and being in league with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.

However, India had rejected Pakistan’s “baseless and unsubstantiated allegations”, saying that the Pakistani allegations were an “after-thought and a crude attempt to target these officials for no fault of theirs.”

MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup had said, “We also note that the Indian officials falsely implicated were working in the field of promoting people-to-people, trade & economic contacts between the two countries.”