- FO says Pakistan ensures effective implementation of consular agreement
Pakistan on Sunday denied India consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav who was sentenced to death by a military tribunal on charges of espionage, terrorism and subversive activities which resulted in loss of many innocent lives and damage to property.
A day earlier, as Pakistan and India exchanged lists of prisoners under the 2008 Agreement on Consular Access, with India reiterating its commitment to addressing on priority all humanitarian matters with Pakistan, India’s Ministry of External Affairs renewed its demand for consular access to the Indian Navy commander.
India called on Pakistan for the early release and repatriation of Indian prisoners, ‘missing defence personnel’ and fishermen along with their boats whose nationality has been confirmed by India. However, the Foreign Office rejected New Delhi’s demand for consular access to Jadhav, stating the equating the case of the Indian spy to civilian prisoners was a travesty of logic.
“Considering Jadhav an ordinary prisoner is an Indian attempt to deny facts,” the state said. “Commander Jadhav is a serving Indian Naval officer and sent to Pakistan by its intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) for espionage, terrorism and subversive activities.”
The FO statement said that five Indian nationals who had completed their sentences were repatriated on June 22, but 20 Pakistani prisoners who had completed their sentences in India were still awaiting repatriation, whereas consular access to 107 Pakistani fishermen and 85 civilian Pakistani prisoners was also pending.
The FO also noted that two boys, Ali Raza and Babar Ali, who had crossed the border into Indian territory inadvertently had been repatriated after a year’s delay. “Pakistan has implemented the bilateral consular agreement in letter and spirit and is committed to ensuring that humanitarian cases are not held hostage to politics. We expect India to reciprocate through action rather then rhetoric,” the statement said.