India Orders Withdrawal of French Ambassador

NEW DELHI —  India said Friday that it has ordered the French ambassador to leave the country in 30 days in a move believed connected to the investigation into the largest spy scandal in Indian history.

The government requested Wednesday that France order Serge Boidevaix home and the French agreed to withdraw the envoy, Foreign Ministry spokesman Salman Haidar told a press briefing.

It was believed to be the first time that such a high-ranking diplomat has been told to leave India in connection with espionage involving both military and industrial secrets.

Although Haidar declined to give the reason for Boidevaix’s removal, Foreign Ministry sources said it was in connection with a spy ring believed to have penetrated the highest levels of the Indian government.

Second Diplomat

Boidevaix, who has been in New Delhi just over two years, was the second French diplomat asked to leave the country in connection with the spy ring.

Deputy Military Attache Lt. Col. Alain Bolley was hurriedly withdrawn from New Delhi Jan. 20, three days after Indian counterintelligence officers began a series of arrests of suspected spies.

Foreign Ministry sources said Boidevaix was not believed to be directly involved in the spying, but was being held responsible as Bolley’s superior.

Boidevaix refused to answer phone calls to his office and an embassy secretary said, “The ambassador is very busy at the moment.”

No Direct Comment

In Paris, a Foreign Ministry spokesman made no direct comment on the expelling of the ambassador but said France has asked India to let someone replace Boidevaix.

Boidevaix on June 1 will take over his new post as deputy secretary general at the Foreign Ministry, the spokesman said.

A total of 14 people have been charged with spying in India so far and others have been detained for questioning or are being sought.

The spy ring allegedly penetrated the offices of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, President Zail Singh and the Defense Ministry.

Documents Seized

Hundreds of photocopies of top secret documents concerning military defense purchases, electronics information, India’s atomic energy program, and sensitive internal political matters reportedly were seized in police raids.

The government has refused to name the foreign country that received the secrets, but Indian press reports have pointed the finger variously at France, the United States, the Soviet Union, West Germany and Pakistan.

In a related development, the Press Trust of India domestic news agency reported that 10 Indian military officers have been arrested in another spy ring operating near the sensitive Pakistani-Indian border.

The Indian officers were named by an former army man identified as Aya Singh, who said the officers helped him supply information to Pakistan army intelligence about troop deployments and army installations.

The Press Trust reported the arrest of two Pakistanis in connection with the case.