Indian envoy to Pakistan Gautam Bambawale met Pakistan Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua on Friday over the death sentence awarded to former Indian naval official Kulbhushan Jadhav. The Indian envoy yet again sought consular access for Jadhav and demanded the copy of the chargesheet.
India has strongly objected to the sentencing, saying consular officials were denied access to Jadhav during his trial.
Jadhav was arrested in March last year over charges of involvement in espionage and sabotage activities against Pakistan. A statement by the Pakistani Army said Jadhav confessed that he was tasked by Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), to “plan, coordinate and organize espionage/sabotage activities aiming to destabilise and wage war against Pakistan.”
A military court in Pakistan had earlier this week found Jadhav guilty on two counts of espionage and sentenced him to death.
External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj had earlier said that India will go to any extent to ensure justice for Jadhav. She also issued a stern warning to Pakistan, saying that Islamabad should be wary of taking such an extreme step as it could result in damaging the bilateral relations between the already hostile neighbors and vowed to go “out of the way” to save Jadhav amid an outrage in this country.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay had on Thursday said that “India has no knowledge of Kulbhushan Jadhav’s location and condition. We are making all efforts to get him back but we can’t reveal the steps that will be taken in this regard.”
Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had said Jadhav has the right to appeal against his death sentence within 60 days.
However, Asif also defended the Pakistan Government’s decision to execute Kulbhushan, saying that all legal processes had been observed in the ex-Naval officer’s trial.
