Pak: Consular access to Jadhav on merit basis

The decision to provide consular access to alleged India 'spy' Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been awarded death sentence in Pakistan, will be taken on merit, the Foreign Office said on Thursday.

Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria told the media that Jadhav was prosecuted as per Pakistani law and his statements helped in intercepting a terrorist network in the country.

"We already have evidence in the Jadhav case," Geo TV quoted Zakaria as saying.

Jadhav, whose family stays in Mumbai and who was reportedly arrested in Balochistan, has been charged with espionage and waging war against Pakistan. India says he was abducted from Tehran, Iran. The Foreign Office spokesman said former Tehreek-e-Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan in a recent confession video "has disclosed the presence of Research and Analysis Wing's (RAW) presence" in Pakistan. Urging the international community to take notice of Ehsan's confessional video, Zakaria told the media that the former TTP spokesman's "statement exposed the real face of India". He claimed that Ehsan's confession about TTP commander Khalid Khorasani's treatment in India is a proof that the TTP is assisted by RAW. He said that Indian and Afghan intelligence agencies were "involved in sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan".

Pakistan on Thursday stuck to its stand on Kulbhushan Jadhav's sentencing, saying the military court's ruling was based on specific evidence and the trial was conducted in a "transparent" manner. Pakistan's assertion came a day after India handed over an appeal by the mother of retired Indian Navy officer Jadhav, sentenced to death by the Field General Court Martial, to the appellate court, initiating a process to get his conviction overturned.

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria claimed that Jadhav has been tried for espionage according to the law of the land in a "transparent manner."