Kulbhushan Jadhav under extreme pressure to parrot Pak's untenable claims: India

Islamabad: 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.

According to sources quoted by The Dawn, Ahluwalia held a meeting with Pakistan's foreign office spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal. The meeting with Jadhav was held at a sub-jail. It is, however, not yet clear if the consular access provided on Monday was unhindered as demanded by India.

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.

"We hope that Pakistan will ensure right atmosphere so that the meeting is free, fair, meaningful and effective in keeping with the letter and spirit of the ICJ orders," MEA sources said.

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.

(Inputs from The Indian Express)