The consular access to Jadhav comes after a verdict by the International Court of Justice. (Express illustration)Hours after Indian deputy high commissioner Gaurav Ahluwalia met Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is on a death row in Pakistan, the government said that he “appeared to be under extreme pressure to parrot a false narrative to bolster Pakistan’s untenable claims.” This is the first time that an Indian diplomat was allowed consular access to Jadhav.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke to Jadhav’s mother and briefed her of today’s developments.
The meeting with Jadhav was held at a sub-jail at noon and lasted for two hours. The Pakistan foreign ministry said that the meeting between Indian diplomat and Jadhav was recorded and there was no restriction on language of communication between the two.
The consular access provided to Jadhav was conducted in the presence of Pakistan officials, against India’s demand of an unhindered meeting.
On Sunday, Pakistan said it would grant consular access to Jadhav on Monday in line with the judgement by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). India accepted the offer Monday morning after “studying” it.
India did not want the meeting to become a “sham” and a “propaganda exercise”, like the one that took place in December 2017, when Jadhav’s mother and wife went to see him, sources had said.
The offer to provide consular access to Jadhav came amidst fresh Indo-Pak tensions, which spiked after India abrogated provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.
India in August had rejected Pakistan’s offer of consular access to Jadhav as it wanted unimpeded and unrestricted access to him.
Kulbhushan Jadhav, 49, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in April 2017. India called the closed trial farcical and challenged the order in world court.
India has always disputed Pakistan’s claims on Jadhav’s occupational status and maintained that he retired from the Navy and was pursuing his own business when he was abducted from Iran and brought to Pakistan illegally.
