India says identities of 8 diplomats in Pakistan exposed

Pakistani rangers stand near the Indian (R) and Pakistani national flags during an annual fair near Pakistan border in Chamliyal, 45 km (28 miles) west of Jammu, June 26, 2008. REUTERS/Amit Gupta/Files

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India said on Wednesday that the identities of eight of its diplomats in Pakistan had been revealed in the local media, amid continuing tensions between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours. Vikas Swarup, spokesman of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, declined to comment when asked whether the eight diplomats stationed in Islamabad would be withdrawn. He also said six Pakistani diplomats had left the Indian capital on Wednesday, but that they were not expelled. India ordered one employee of the Pakistani High Commission out of the country last week on suspicion of espionage, triggering a tit-for-tat expulsion of one of its own envoys by Islamabad. (Reporting by Douglas Busvine; editing by John Stonestreet)