India has taken strong exception to the brutal attack on B S Rawat, an attache in Islamabad. Foreign Secretary K Raghunath called on Ashraf Jahangir Qazi, Pakistan's High Commissioner to India, this afternoon, and lodged a strong protest against the attack.

Rawat was on his way to a market this morning when, it is believed, a "private security guard" came up to him of his own accord and started beating him up. Rawat sustained head injuries and a fracture of the left arm, sources from Islamabad said.

The attack is bound to create more animosity between India and Pakistan. "The foreign secretary told the Pakistani High Commissioner that India took a very grave note of this incident, which had very disturbing connotations and was extremely unacceptable," an unusually strong statement from the Ministry ofExternal Affairs said.

Ministry officials were extremely disturbed at the seriousness of the development today, pointing out that under the Geneva Convention diplomats were guaranteed immunity. "In Pakistan, however, not even the lives of Indian diplomats are safe," one source said. It was not clear today, however, what action New Delhi intends to take, even though the official statement described the attack as an "abnormal incident".

Clearly, New Delhi does not believe in the "private security guard" story put out by the Pakistanis. "Pakistan should take all steps to ensure the safety and security of our mission personnel and to stop their harassment at the hands of intelligence agencies of Pakistan," the ministry statement said.

Agencies add from Islamabad: Rawat, an attache rank official who was posted in Islamabad barely six months ago, has been kept under observation at a nursing home. The High Commission has issued a general alert to all its employees and asked all Indians living inPakistan to take utmost precaution in view of the incident.