Pakistan grants consular access to alleged Indian spy

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan

Pakistan on Monday has granted consular access to India for an alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav at Islamabad, an official said.

The Indian Deputy High Commissioner Gaurav Ahluwalia met Jadhav in sub-jail in capital's Islamabad.

"Pursuant to the decision of the International Court of Justice, Pakistan provided consular access on 02 September, 2019 to India for Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav, Indian spy, serving Indian Naval officer and RAW operative" Mohammad Faisal, spokesman foreign ministry said in a statement.

Gaurav Ahluwalia, Charge d' Affairs of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad availed consular access which was provided in line with Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, ICJ verdict and the laws of Pakistan, Faisal added.

Consular access was provided at 1200 hours local time [0700 AM GMT] and lasted for two hours, in the presence of officials of the government of Pakistan.

"On Indian request, there was no restriction on the language of communication. In order to ensure transparency and in line with standard operating procedures, and as conveyed to the Indian side in advance, the access was recorded", Faisal said.

As a responsible member of the international community and in line with our international commitments, Pakistan has provided un-impeded, uninterrupted consular access to India to Commander Jadhav, he explained.

Earlier on Sunday, Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that his country would provide consular access to Indian spy Jadhav in accordance with local laws and international agreements.

India reaction

Indian spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs Raveesh Kumar claimed that Jadhav appeared under extreme pressure to parrot a false Pakistani narrative in his case.

"While we await a comprehensive report, it was clear that Jadhav appeared to be under extreme pressure to parrot a false narrative to bolster Pakistan’s untenable claims" Kumar said in a statement.

He added that they will decide a further course of action after receiving a detailed report from ''our Cd’A and determining the extent of conformity to the ICJ directives.''

Kumar said that today’s consular access was a part of the binding obligations of Pakistan, as ordered by the ICJ, to ensure effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence awarded to Shri Jadhav.

Later External Affairs Minister has spoken to the mother of Jadhav and briefed her of today’s developments.

"The Government remains committed to continue to work towards ensuring that Jadhav receives justice at the earliest and returns safely to India", the statement further added.

Background

Kulbhushan Jadhav -- who Pakistan says was a serving officer in the Indian Navy -- was arrested in March 2016 in Mashakel town, a few miles from the Iranian border. According to the military, he was using the Muslim name Hussein Mubarak Patel.

Officials accuse Jadhav of running a spy network for India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) intelligence agency from the Iranian port of Chabahar.

Jadhav was later tried by a military court that sentenced him to death in April 2017 on espionage and terrorism charges. No date, however, was set for his execution, which would be by hanging.

According to the military, Jadhav had confessed before the court to having been tasked to “plan, coordinate and organize espionage/sabotage activities aiming to destabilize and wage war against Pakistan by impeding the efforts of law enforcement agencies for restoring peace in Balochistan and Karachi.”

New Delhi rejects Islamabad's charges declaring Jadhav, a retired navy officer who was “kidnapped" from Iran, where he was doing his own business and his subsequent presence in Pakistan was never explained credibly.

India also threatened if the sentence against its citizen was carried out then it would be regarded as “a case of premeditated murder”.

New Delhi had moved to the ICJ, which stayed Jadhav's execution in May 2017.

In July, the International Court of Justice ruled to treat Jadhav under the Vienna convention and asked Pakistan to provide him consular access and continue to stay his execution.

* Shuriah Niazi contributed to this story from New Delhi