NEW DELHI, Oct 23: New Delhi accused Islamabad on Monday of encouraging Indian soldiers to betray their country and said it had launched a massive operation to weed out those who had become spies.

The allegation came after India said on the weekend it had arrested an army sergeant for allegedly handing secret military papers to a Pakistan High Commission employee, sparking a new spy row between the two countries.

“It is a matter of extreme concern that the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) is trying to infiltrate and subvert our armed forces,” Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters in the Indian capital.

Pakistan has denied that its employee was involved in espionage activity.

“Our intelligence networks in all the three services are active as there have been inputs that the ISI is trying to infiltrate the services and also make some of the personnel corrupt,” Mr Mukherjee said.

He said the Indian armed forces had launched a major hunt for spies in its million-plus army.

“Sometimes we catch moles. But this time the exercises are aimed at nailing the kingpins,” Mr Mukherjee said.

Two months ago, Pakistan threw out a visa official from the Indian embassy in Islamabad on charges of espionage and India retaliated by expelling a Pakistani diplomat on similar charges.

That round of expulsions was the first since 2002 when the two countries deployed troops on the border in the wake of allegations by India that Pakistan had masterminded an attack on its parliament.

Monday’s statement came as India’s national security adviser came under opposition fire after saying New Delhi may have no ‘clinching’ proof of Pakistan’s alleged involvement in the deadly Mumbai blasts.

National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan had said on Sunday that India had ‘pretty good’, although not possibly ‘clinching’ evidence that the ISI was involved in the July 11 explosions that killed 186 people.

“The national security adviser has weakened our stand about the ISI’s involvement in the Mumbai train bombings,” senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra said.

—AFP