NEW DELHI: India on Thursday hit out at Pakistan for not providing unimpeded consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav and said the Indian national was visibly stressed.
According to Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava, Pakistani officials were present in close proximity to Jadhav in an intimidating demeanour despite protests from the Indian side.
Besides, the conversation with Jadhav was being recorded.
“The arrangements did not permit a free conversation between them. The Indian consular officers could not engage Jadhav on his legal rights and were prevented from obtaining his written consent for arranging his legal representation,” Srivastava said.
Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of “espionage and terrorism” in April 2017.
While Pakistan claims he was arrested from Balochistan, India maintains he ran a business in Iran and Pak agencies abducted him from Chabahar.
Pakistan recently said Jadhav has refused to file a review plea against his death sentence by a Pak military court as he wanted to rely on his mercy petition, a claim rejected by India.
“The Pakistan side conveyed they were ready to organise consular access on July 16. We were assured this consular access would be unimpeded, unhindered and unconditional. However, neither the environment nor the arrangements of the meeting were in accordance with the assurances of Pakistan,” said Srivastava.