#dnaEdit: The spy row

It has been Pakistan’s case for a very long time now that India is involved in abetting the rebels and secessionists in Balochistan. When former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh agreed to look into the issue in the meeting with his Pakistan counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani at Sharm-el-Sheikh in July 2009 with the caveat that India has nothing to fear because it is not involved in Balochistan, political parties, including his own Congress party, were up in arms against Singh. Pakistan is now ready to thumb its nose at India with the capture of Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian businessman in Chabahar in Iran, who was arrested by Pakistan in Chaman in Balochistan. 

The Ministry for External Affairs has rebutted Jadhav’s videoed confession that he was a naval officer who had joined the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) which was shown at the press conference of Pakistan information minister Pervaiz Rashid and army spokesman Lieutenant General Asim Saleem Bajwa in Islamabad. Pakistan claims that Jadhav had assumed the name of Hussein Mubarak Patel. According to reports, Pakistani agencies tracking Jadhav intercepted his telephone calls home and found him talking in Marathi to his family. 

There is an interesting twist to this spy story. Jadhav has been doing his business — no pun is intended here — in Iran. So, Pakistan did not lose an opportunity to blame Iran for fishing in troubled waters in Balochistan. When Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who is on a visit to Islamabad, was confronted with the Jadhav question, he promptly denied that Iran had any role in the alleged spy activities of the Indian businessman. It is no secret that India and Iran share a common concern with regard to the activities of Taliban, whom Pakistan supports in Afghanistan, and Islamabad has been resentful of the convergence of Indian and Iranian interests.

It is indeed a difficult position for India and the government has no option but to deny charges of spying. As a matter of fact, the MEA is doing the best thing under the circumstances, saying that Jadhav has been kidnapped by Pakistanis and that it is seeking consular access to him, which Pakistan has denied for the moment. It is also understandable that Pakistan would go to town with the Jadhav arrest and his ‘confession’. The two governments are doing their job. 

It would indeed be naive to believe that India and Pakistan do not send spies into each other’s country. It is what countries, especially rivals, do. While the official and officious positions are sort of de rigueur, there is also a need to deal with the issue in a pragmatic fashion. The best thing would be either to swap each other’s spies without much ado, or agree to release individuals after due investigation. If the spy work is confined to gathering information and does not involve subversive acts like triggering violence, then there has to be a tacit protocol that after a period of imprisonment they would be sent home. 

There is no doubt that this suggestion will meet with howls of protest from Islamabad and New Delhi. Indignation is the correct public response. But governments on the two sides need to find ways of sorting out the problem.

The rules that can be followed should be parallel to that followed in matters regarding prisoners of war. There is also the need to consider the possibility that Jadhav is indeed a businessman and Pakistan is framing him. That would require a more meticulous and transparent Indian defence to prove the point.