Soon after Pakistan announced that Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian citizen held in that country on the charges of espionage, would be executed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message to both the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) was to convey a strong response. Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar immediately summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit and handed over a demarche. In diplomatic terms, démarches are instruments of protest to object to actions of a foreign government.
At his office in South Block, Jaishankar read the strongly worded demarche to Basit. He told him that the trial against Jadhav was farcical and India will regard it as a case of premeditated murder. The Foreign Secretary said Jadhav was kidnapped last year from Iran and his subsequent presence in Pakistan has never been credibly explained.
“The Government of India, through its High Commission in Islamabad, has repeatedly sought consular access to him, as provided for by international law. Requests to that effect were formally made 13 times between March 25, 2016 and March 31, 2017. This was not permitted by the Pakistani authorities,” he said.
Jaishankar further said that the proceedings that have led to the sentence against Jadhav are farcical in the absence of any credible evidence against him.
“It is significant that our High Commission was not even informed that Jadhav was being brought to trial. Senior Pakistani figures have themselves cast doubt about the adequacy of evidence. The claim in the ISPR release that Shri Jadhav was provided with a defending officer during the so-called trial is clearly absurd in the circumstances,” the demarche read to the Pakistan High Commissioner said.
“If this sentence against an Indian citizen, awarded without observing basic norms of law and justice, is carried out, the government and people of India will regard it as a case of premeditated murder,” the Foreign Secretary added.
High commissioner of pak summoned
Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit and handed over a démarche. In diplomatic terms, démarches are instruments of protest to object to actions of a foreign government. Jaishankar said that India will regard Jadhav’s sentencing as a case of premeditated murder.
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