India-Pakistan Diplomatic Row Deepens as Islamabad Expels Indian High Commission Staffer

In yet another sign of rapidly deteriorating diplomatic ties between India and Pakistan, Islamabad on Tuesday declared a staff member of the Indian High Commission as persona non grata and ordered him to leave the country within 24 hours. The move comes just days after India expelled a Pakistani High Commission official in New Delhi over alleged involvement in espionage.

In an official statement, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Indian official was expelled for “engaging in activities incompatible with his privileged status.” The Indian Charge d’Affaires in Islamabad was summoned to the Foreign Ministry and handed a formal demarche—a diplomatic protest—conveying the decision.

The tit-for-tat expulsion was prompted by India’s decision earlier this week to declare a staffer from the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi persona non grata. The Ministry of External Affairs said that the individual had been found engaging in activities “not in keeping with his official status in India.” He too was given 24 hours to leave the country.

The controversy erupted after Punjab Police, acting on credible intelligence, arrested two individuals for allegedly passing sensitive military information to a Pakistani handler based at the High Commission in Delhi. According to Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav, the suspects were in frequent contact with the handler and had received payments through online channels for their activities.

Investigators revealed that the arrested individuals had also helped route funds to local operatives on instructions from the Pakistani handler, raising serious concerns about an organized espionage network operating within India.

This latest diplomatic fallout comes in the wake of the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which claimed 26 civilian lives. In response, India undertook a series of retaliatory diplomatic and economic measures, including the expulsion of three Pakistani defence attachés and a reduction in the number of diplomatic staff allowed in each country from 55 to 30.

The atmosphere between the two neighbours remains tense, with both governments trading allegations and responding with reciprocal measures that further shrink already limited diplomatic engagement.

As cross-border tensions continue to mount, observers warn that sustained diplomatic breakdown could complicate backchannel communication and make crisis management between the nuclear-armed neighbours increasingly difficult.