‘Consequences’ for sure, Pak cautioned

Ajay Banerjee & Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 11

The India-Pakistan relationship today took a rather tense turn as New Delhi “cautioned” Islamabad about the “consequences” on the bilateral relationship if it carried out the death sentence to retired Indian Navy Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been convicted by a Pakistani army court.

Edit: Jadhav’s death sentence

Speaking separately in both Houses of Parliament, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said: “The government and people of India would view the death sentence very seriously. I would caution the Pakistan Government to consider the consequences for our bilateral relationship if they proceed on this matter.”

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Amid applause from MPs cutting across party lines, Swaraj said: “We have no choice but to regard the sentence, if carried out, as an act of pre-meditated murder. There is no evidence of wrongdoing by Jadhav. He is the victim of a plan that seeks to cast aspersions on India to deflect international attention from Pakistan’s well-known record of sponsoring and supporting terrorism.”

Swaraj termed the court martial proceedings as “farcical” and said consular access to Jadhav had been denied. She said the Pakistan Government had sought assistance to obtain evidence and other materials for the investigation process. “In doing so, they levelled ridiculous charges against senior Indian officials who had no connection to this issue. Thereafter, they linked providing consular access to our acceptance of their position.”

The Indian stand was consular access was a prerequisite for verifying the facts and understanding the circumstances of Jadhav’s presence in Pakistan.

“To make matters absurd, three hours after the death sentence was announced, the Indian High Commission received a communication from the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan reiterating the Pakistani proposal for conditional consular access,” Swaraj said.

The Inter-Services Public Relations of Pakistan had announced the death sentence through a press release from Rawalpindi on Monday. 

Angry MPs in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha demanded immediate action. In the Lok Sabha, Congress’ Mallikarjun Kharge asked the government not to be silent on the matter. He questioned why the PM could not speak directly to his Pakistani counterpart on Jadhav even though he had attended the wedding of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s daughter. Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad suggested the government should appoint a competent lawyer to fight Jadhav’s case in Pakistan’s Supreme Court.