India returns Jadhav gesture by martyring 3 soldiers on LoC

ISLAMABAD: Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhev met his wife and mother at Foreign Office here on Monday amid tight security.

The meeting continued for half an hour as both landed in Islamabad in the early hours on Monday. Indian Deputy High Commissioner was also present in the meeting. Pakistan allowed the wife and mother to visit him eight months after he was sentenced to death by a military court.

Kulbhushan Jadhav, a former officer in the Indian Navy, was arrested in March 2016 in Balochistan. The case added to tensions between Pakistan and India.

Pakistan released a picture of Jadhav’s mother, Avanti, and wife, Chetankul, seated at a desk and speaking to him from behind a glass window. The mother and wife of Commander Jadhav sitting comfortably in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pakistan.

“We honour our commitments," Foreign Office Spokesman Dr Muhammad Faisal said in an earlier Twitter posting when the women first arrived at the ministry in Islamabad. India’s Ministry for External Affairs office has not responded to a request for comment on the meeting.

After Jadhav was sentenced to death in April, India asked the World Court for an injunction to bar the execution, arguing that he was denied diplomatic assistance during what it says was an unfair trial.

The World Court ordered Pakistan in May to delay Jadhav’s execution, and said Islamabad had violated a treaty guaranteeing diplomatic assistance to foreigners accused of crimes.

Pakistan authorities say Jadhav confessed to being ordered by India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) to conduct espionage and sabotage in Balochistan "to destabilise and wage war against Pakistan".

In a transcript released by Pakistan of what it says is Jadhav’s confession, the former naval officer says disrupting the Chinese-funded projects was a main goal of his activities.

Meanwhile, when Pakistan showed a goodwill gesture by arranging meeting of Kulbhushan Jadhev with his mother and wife, Indian armed forces resorted to unprovoked firing across Line of Control (LoC) as three Army soldiers martyred in the latest incident.

Indian forces opened fire along the Line of Control, said a statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations. The incident of firing occurred in the Rakhchikri sector of the LoC.

One other soldier was injured in the unprovoked incident of firing by Indian troops.

Incidents of firing from across the border have increased after the right-wing government of Narendra Modi came to power and caused significant material and human loss.

Indian forces have used medium and heavy weapons in recent times to target the civilian population of AJK and Army posts built along the LoC.

Pakistan’s top civilian and military leadership has expressed serious concerns over repeated violations by India of the ceasefire agreement along the LoC.

Earlier, Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal said that convicted Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav is the face of Indian terrorism in Pakistan. Faisal, during a press conference, reiterated that Jadhav is a terrorist spy and a saboteur who was caught red-handed and was conducting terror attacks in Balochistan and Karachi

Meanwhile, Kubhushan Yadhav thanked Pakistan for his meeting with his mother and wife and he again confessed that he was spy and working for the Indian secret intelligence agency. In his video message, he confessed, “My name is Kubhushan Yadhav and my India Navy ID is 41558. I entered Pakistan two years ago by crossing Iran border while working for the Indian intelligence agency. Later I had been arrested by the Pakistani security forces in Balochistan. He also admitted that the Pakistan official’s conduct with him was professional and respectable as when he requested to meeting with his wife and mother they arranged the meeting.

“I was informed that my mother and wife are coming to meet me. It is a happy moment in my life,” he said in his video message.