Indian HC officials provided ‘unimpeded and uninterrupted’ access to Kulbhushan Jadhav

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday provided “unimpeded and uninterrupted” consular access to Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, according to a statement by the Foreign Office.

The FO said in its press release that Jadhav’s wife and mother visited him as well. This was the second time the RAW agent was provided consular access; the first being September 2, 2019.

“Two consular officers of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad were provided unimpeded and uninterrupted consular access to Commander Jadhav at 1500 hours,” read the statement.

The FO said in its statement that Jadhav is in Pakistan’s custody following his arrest from Balochistan in a counter-intelligence operation on 3 March 2016.

“During investigation, Commander Jadhav confessed to his involvement in terrorist activities inside Pakistan that resulted in loss of many precious human lives. He also made important revelations about RAW’s role in sponsoring state terrorism in Pakistan,” the FO said.

Pakistan said it “remains committed to fully implementing the International Court of Justice (ICJ)’s judgment of 17 July 2019”  and hoped that India will cooperate with the Pakistan court in giving full effect to the said judgement.

Last week, FO Director-General South Asia Zahid Hafeez, in a press conference, said that usually consular access is granted once, however Pakistan as a “humanitarian gesture was extending another such offer for the second time”.

This time, he said, the offer was made for Jadhav’s meeting with his wife and father.

He also said that Jadhav still has a chance to file a review petition against his sentence and conviction.

A review and reconsideration petition could be filed by Jadhav, his legally-authorised representative or a consular officer of the Indian High Commission at the Islamabad High Court (IHC), Hafeez said, adding that Pakistan had offered to assist in arranging a legal representative for the spy.