NEW DELHI -- India on Saturday said one of its high commission (embassy) staffers in Islamabad had been abducted and lodged a strong protest, saying it was part of the "pathological hostility" nurtured by Pakistan against its estranged neighbor, AFP reported.

India's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Nirupama Rao said Staffer Kulwant Singh was abducted from near his residence in the Pakistani capital when he was returning home with his son.

"He (Singh) was returning home on his scooter with his son when an unknown number of people abducted him," Rao said.

"His son who was on the scooter witnessed the abduction and ran home to tell his mother." Rao said the Indian acting High Commissioner Sudhir Vyas took up the matter with the military regime of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

"We have conveyed our very strong protest over this unfortunate and completely regrettable incident which we condemn totally.

"We have demanded the return of Kulwant Singh and we expect the Pakistani authorities to respond to this demand and ensure that no harm comes to Kulwant Singh whatsoever," the Indian spokeswoman said.

She also claimed the abduction was staged by Pakistan's intelligence agencies in retaliation for the detention of a Pakistan high commission staffer in New Delhi on charges of espionage.

"These agencies play a major part in such abductions and their behavioral patterns are well known to us. Here again you see the kind of pathological hostility that Pakistan nurtures toward India," she said.

She described the kidnapping as an "unfounded" step by Islamabad, adding that a Pakistani mission staffer in New Delhi was detained on Friday only after he was caught "red-handed" accepting classified documents from retired India air force personnel.

The cross-abduction is certain to fuel fresh tensions between India and Pakistan who have scaled down their diplomatic presence in each other's countries, snapped road, rail and air links since the outbreak of hostilities over an attack in December on the Indian Parliament which New Delhi blames on Pakistan-based Islamic guerrillas.