NEW DELHI: Pakistan hasn’t communicated with India about where or in what condition Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav is, the external affairs ministry (MEA) said today. And, any conditions that Pakistan might put on giving Jadhav consular access “is to deny consular access,” an MEA spokesman said.
He reiterated that Jadhav, whom Pakistan has deemed a spy and has passed a death sentence against, is a retired Indian Navy officer and an “innocent Indian.”
The spokesman added that it was odd that the news of the death sentence against Jadhav and the news of “conditional access” – “that means no access” – granted by Pakistan happened on the same day.
“We don’t know where he is. What his condition is, we have no clue,” said Gopal Baglay, external affairs spokesman.
Baglay also said that “all indications are that he was somehow kidnapped” from Iran where he had a small business. He said the government of Iran was informed last year but no information was available.
“The absence of access and the farcical nature of the trial against him is regarded by all Indians as premeditated murder,” the spokesman reiterated.
“Consular access is usually expeditiously granted,” he added. “We need to verify how this gentleman got to Pakistan; we don’t know the circumstances of his presence in Pakistan. For that we need to meet him. In any case, being able to meet him is part of international law,” the spokesman said.
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