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Pakistan Releases 2 Indian Diplomats

Ayaz Gul

   ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has released two employees of rival India's
   embassy in Islamabad after briefly detaining them in connection with a
   hit-and-run road accident in the capital.
   A city police report noted the Indian officials were taken into custody
   on Monday morning after their "reckless driving" injured a pedestrian.
   The report identified the men as Paul Selvadhas and Dwimu Brahma,
   saying they also tried to flee but their car was stopped by a crowd of
   people gathered at the site.
   Pakistani authorities familiar with the incident argued the detainees
   were released to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad within hours
   because they held diplomatic immunity.
   The Indian Foreign Ministry on Monday summoned the deputy chief of the
   Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi to protest the detention of its
   officials and demanded their immediate release.
   Late last month, India expelled two Pakistani diplomats, accusing them
   of espionage. Islamabad rejected the allegations as baseless and part
   of a "persistent anti-Pakistan propaganda" by the neighboring country.
   New Delhi has since alleged its diplomats in Islamabad have been
   harassed by Pakistani intelligence operatives.
   Both the countries routinely level such allegations against each other
   and tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats have been a hallmark of
   historically acrimonious bilateral ties.

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