A day after the mother and wife of Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is on death row in Pakistan for alleged spying, met him at the Pakistan foreign office, India said on Tuesday it regretted the way Pakistan conducted the meeting, asserting that it violated the letter and spirit of understandings, and raised questions over the health and well being of the Indian national.
“The manner in which the meeting was conducted and its aftermath was clearly an attempt to bolster a false and unsubstantiated narrative of Jadhav’s alleged activities. You would all agree that this exercise lacked any credibility, said spokesperson of the ministry for external affairs Raveesh Kumar at a press conference in New Delhi.
Kumar also alleged that the family members were forced to remove “mangal sutra”, bangles and bindi and made to change their attires before the meeting.
“Under pretext of security precautions, cultural and religious sensibilities of family members were disregarded. This included removal of mangal sutra, bangles and bindi, as well as a change in attire that was not warranted by security,” he said, adding: “For some inexplicable reason, despite her repeated requests, the shoes of the wife of Shri Jadhav were not returned to her after the meeting. We would caution against any mischievous intent in this regard.”
In a press statement, MEA said: “From the feedback we have received of the meeting, it appears that Shri Jadhav was under considerable stress and speaking in an atmosphere of coercion. Most of his remarks were clearly tutored and designed to perpetuate the false narrative of his alleged activities in Pakistan. His appearance also raises questions of his health and well being.
“We also regret that contrary to assurances, the overall atmosphere of the meeting was intimidating insofar as family members were concerned. Family members, however, handled the situation with great courage and fortitude.”
The MEA alleged that the Pakistani press was allowed on multiple occasions to approach family members closely, "harass and hector them and hurl false and motivated accusations about Shri Jadhav".
"This was despite a clear agreement that the media would not be allowed close access," it said in the statement.
Kumar’s response came a few hours after Jadhav’s mother and wife met Union external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj
They had met Jadhav on Monday at the heavily guarded building of the Pakistani foreign office.
The meeting, through a glass screen, came after The Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) asked Pakistan in May to stay the 47-year-old Indian national's execution.
