Execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav will be premeditated murder: India warns Pakistan

Delhi: In a strong warning to Pakistan over death sentence given to an alleged Indian ‘spy' Kulbhushan Jadhav, India on Monday issued a demarche to Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit.

The Ministry of External Affairs also said that India will regard the execution of Jadhav as a case of premeditated murder.

Following is the demarche issued to Basit by the MEA:

We have seen the ISPR press release today regarding Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian citizen, who has been awarded a death sentence by a Pakistani military court martial.

Jadhav was kidnapped last year from Iran and his subsequent presence in Pakistan has never been explained credibly. The government of India, through its High Commission in Islamabad, has repeatedly sought consular access to him, as provided for by international law. Requests to that effect were formally made 13 times between 25 March 2016 and 31 March 2017. This was not permitted by the Pakistani authorities.

The proceedings that have led to the sentence against Jadhav are farcical in the absence of any credible evidence against him. It is significant that our High Commission was not even informed that Jadhav was being brought to trial. Senior Pakistani figures have themselves cast doubt about the adequacy of evidence.

The claim in the ISPR release that Jadhav was provided with a defending officer during the so-called trial is clearly absurd in the circumstances.

If this sentence against an Indian citizen, awarded without observing basic norms of law and justice, is carried out, the government and people of India will regard it as a case of premeditated murder.

Pakistan's Army Chief today approved the execution of Jadhav after a military court found him guilty of “involvement in espionage and sabotage activities” against the country. The death sentence to Jadhav, 46, was confirmed by Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa after the Field General Court Martial (FGCM) found him guilty of “all the charges”, said the military's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

“The spy has been tried through Field General Court Martial under Pakistan Army Act and awarded death sentence,” it said.

According to the ISPR statement, Jadhav, “a commander in the Indian Navy”, “confessed” before a magistrate and the court that he was “tasked by RAW to plan, coordinate and organise espionage/sabotage activities aiming to destabilise and wage war against Pakistan by impeding the efforts of Law Enforcement Agencies for restoring peace in Balochistan and Karachi.”

Jadhav was “arrested” on March 3 last year by ‘Pakistani security forces' in the restive Balochistan province after he reportedly entered from Iran.

Pakistan has alleged that Jadhav was “a serving officer” in the Indian Navy and deputed to the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW).

The Pakistan Army had released a so-called “confessional video” of Jadhav after his arrest.

India has acknowledged that Jadhav served with the Navy but has denied he has any connection with the government.

“The individual has no link with government since his premature retirement from Indian Navy,” the External Affairs Ministry had said in a statement in March last year, as per PTI.

The ISPR statement, however, said Jadhav, alias Hussein Mubarak Patel, was “provided with defending officer as per legal provisions”.

(With PTI inputs)