Diplomatic spat.

PAKISTAN-India relations, already in the throes of an extended cool phase, have over the past few days deteriorated further as New Delhi has initiated a quarrel with this country, possibly to deflect attention from its internal and external crises. On Tuesday, the Indians asked Pakistan to reduce staff strength at the high commission in New Delhi by half. Pakistan answered in kind, based on the principle of reciprocity. Tension had already been increasing: on Monday two employees of the Indian mission in Islamabad returned to their country after they were involved in an accident in Islamabad, in which a pedestrian was hurt. Fake currency was retrieved from the Indians. A few weeks ago, two personnel of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi were declared personae non grata by the Indians. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi issued a stern warning to India on Wednesday, saying this country would respond with full force to any 'misadventure'.

Regarding the scaling down of diplomatic strength, India has alleged that Pakistani diplomatic staffers were involved in 'acts of espionage', and has trotted out the old bogey of support for 'cross-border terrorism'. Pakistan has denied these charges emphatically, stating that this country's diplomatic staffers 'always function within the parameters of international law and diplomatic norms'. Whatever India's spurious reasons, it seems that those who call the shots in New Delhi have chosen to vilify Pakistan in order to deflect growing domestic criticism of the BJP-led government over its bungled handling of both...