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India has sought from Pakistan details of the appeal process in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case in which it has made 15 attempts to get consular access to the Indian national given death sentence by a military court there.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said India was ‘concerned’ as it has no information about the location or the condition of Jadhav, who Pakistan says was in their custody.
Noting that the ministry had ‘called in’ the Pakistan deputy high commissioner on Wednesday, he said Pakistan has been asked to provide details of the trial against Jadhav.
“Pakistan claims there have been legal proceedings against Jadhav. If there has been any proceedings against (him), we would, officially, like to see details of those proceedings,” Baglay said.
India would also like to know how it can proceed in the case, and asked Shah about various options available in Pakistani legal system, Baglay said, noting that India is still awaiting a reponse to its demands for consular access and details of the trial proceedings against Jadhav.
“Yesterday also we asked for consular access to Jadhav and in the past we made 13 such requests,” Baglay said, adding it was important given the nature of charges levelled against the retired Indian Navy officer.
“We don't know anything about Jadhav's location or condition in Pakistan. It is a matter of concern for India. We are concerned about his health and whereabouts,” he maintained.
On reports that Pakistan will present a dossier on Jadhav with evidence of his alleged spying activities, Baglay merely said that in past also Pakistan has attempted to ‘misinform’ the international community.
India had also reiterated that Jadhav was innocent and false charges were framed against him when the Pakistan deputy high commissioner was summoned.
Shah was also told that not giving consular access to Jadhav amounted to violation of human rights as well international norms as the two countries have a bilateral agreement on consular access.
Pakistan army had on Monday ruled out consular access to 46-year-old Jadhav, days after India had made a strong case for access to the Indian prisoner on death row.
Indian envoy Gautam Bambawale had met the Pakistan foreign secretary last week and demanded a certified copy of the chargesheet and the army court order in the case, besides consular access to the retired naval officer.
“We definitely want to appeal against the judgment but we cannot do it unless we have the details of the charges and a copy of verdict. So, my demand was that the details of the chargesheet and a copy of the verdict be provided to us,” Bambawale had said after the meeting.
The MEA spokesperson also said India took offence to China renaming six places in Arunachal Pradesh, adding that inventing names of states of a neighbour does not make illegal occupation legal.
Baglay said Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India.
He said ‘renaming or inventing names of states of your neighbour do not make illegal occupation as legal’.
China on Wdnesday had announced that it has ‘standardised’ official names for six places in the Northeastern state and termed the provocative move as a ‘legitimate action’.
The Chinese move came days after Beijing lodged strong protests with India over the Dalai Lama’s visit to the frontier state.
IMAGE: MEA spokesperson Gopal Baglay. Photograph: ANI