New Delhi, December 22
The Vajpayee government is contemplating taking more political and diplomatic steps against Pakistan in retaliation for its role in the December 13 attack on Parliament House and one of the measures under consideration is the withdrawal of the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status given to Islamabad.

In another development, while New Delhi may not precipitate matters by asking Islamabad to recall its High Commissioner, Mr Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, it would completely isolate him diplomatically, well-placed sources disclosed here today.

New Delhi would be dealing with the Pakistan High Commission here only through its Deputy High Commissioner, Mr Jalil Abbas Gilani, to signal diplomatic parity as the Indian High Commission in Islamabad has been downgraded.

Significantly, this policy was evidently in force yesterday when the Indian foreign office deliberately summoned Mr Gilani and not the High Commissioner to convey to Pakistan to take the bodies of five terrorists killed in the Parliament House attack.

Besides, a whole lot of bilateral treaties with Pakistan may be reviewed, the sources said.

The announcement regarding the scrapping of MFN status to Pakistan is likely soon. It was during the prime ministership of Mr I.K. Gujral that India had granted MFN status to Pakistan. During the February 1999 Lahore bus trip of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, more trade items were included in the MFN list and this list was further expanded to an all-time high figure of 615 items just before the Agra Summit in July this year.

India has been pressing Pakistan for reciprocating the gesture regarding the MFN status but Pakistan has dilly-dallied.