India-Pakistan tensions: Pakistani official declared ‘persona non grata’, asked to leave within 24 hours

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday said that the Government of India has declared a Pakistani official at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi ‘persona non grata’ for engaging in activities incompatible with his diplomatic status. The official has also been asked to leave the country within 24 hours.

In a statement, the foreign ministry said, “The Government of India has declared a Pakistani official, working at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, persona non grata for indulging in activities not in keeping with his official status in India.”

“The official has been asked to leave India within 24 hours. Charge d’ Affaires, Pakistan High Commission, was issued a demarche to this effect today.”

The development comes a few days after India and Pakistan engaged in a military conflict following New Delhi's Operation Sindoor to eliminate terrorists and terror infrastructure across the border in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Operation Sindoor was conducted in retaliation for the killings of 26 persons in Baisaran Valley of Pahalgam. On May 10, India and Pakistan agreed to halt all fire.

Earlier on April 22, after the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 persons were killed, India had summoned Pakistan's top diplomat, Saad Ahmad Warraich, to Delhi and handed over a formal “persona non grata” note to Pakistan's military diplomats.

Persona non grata is a Latin term meaning “unwelcome person.” In everyday use, it refers to someone who is no longer accepted or welcome within a specific group, setting, or country.

In international diplomacy, declaring someone persona non grata is a formal way for a country to expel a foreign official, typically for actions deemed inappropriate or hostile to the host nation’s interests.

Last time, India declared the Defence/Military, Naval and Air Advisors in the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi as persona non grata.