Three Indian high commission officials leave Islamabad: Reports

Three Indian High Commission officials of the eight accused by Pakistan of being members of Indian intelligence agencies, have left for India on 8 November, according to a report in Geo News.

Quoting sources, the Pakistani website reported that three officials - First Secretary commercial Anurag Singh, Vijay Kumar Varma and Madhawan Nanda Kumar - left for Dubai from Islamabad.

Five other Indian High Commission officials -- Rajesh Kumar Agnihotri, Amerdeep Singh Bhatti, Dharmendra Sodhi, Balbir Singh and Jayabalan Senthil - will leave for India via road through the Wagah border, the report said.

Also Read: Pakistan High Commission staffer held on spying charges, asked to leave India

Foreign Office Spokesman Nafees Zakaria last week had read out a statement at his weekly briefing saying a number of Indian diplomats and staffers were involved in "coordinating terrorist and subversive activities in Pakistan under the garb of diplomatic assignments".

He had named the eight Indian officials, accusing them of being members of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Intelligence Bureau (IB).

Also Read: Pakistan declares Indian official persona non-grata after Pak High Commission staffer's arrest

There was no official confirmation on how many Indian officials had left Pakistan and were expected to leave the country.

Last month, Pakistan had declared Indian High Commission official Surjeet Singh persona non-grata after India's action against Pakistan High Commission official Mehmood Akhtar following Indian police's busting of an ISI-run spy ring.

On 2 November, Pakistan had pulled out six of its officials in the wake of the spy scandal.

Also Read: India, Pakistan may temporarily recall high commissioners, scale down mission staff

--PTI