Syeda Mazhar
Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj recently said that New Delhi will go “out of the way” to save Kulbushan Jadhav from death row. The Indian spy was awarded death sentence on April 10 after being tried through the Field General Court Martial (FGCM) under the Pakistan Army Act (PAA).
Addressing Jadhav as “a son of India”, Swaraj warned the Pakistani government “to consider the consequences for our bilateral relationship if they proceed on this matter,” Hindustan Times quoted the Indian external affairs minister as saying before the Parliament.
Now they have concocted a plot hoping that Jadhav may be exchanged in place of the recently abducted ex airforce officer of Pakistan. Indian agents abducted ex-Lt-Col Mohammad Habib, who went missing on April 6 after arriving in Nepal. They said Habib’s abduction was aimed at pressuring Pakistan to release Kulbhushan Yadav, an Indian naval officer convicted of espionage who was sentenced to death onApril 10. Security officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to reporters about the case. While the Indian officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
One of the officials said records show that Habib “arrived at the Kathmandu airport on April 6. An Indian national took him to a hotel after receiving him” at the airport. The second official also confirmed the account, saying Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing planned Habib’s abduction.
The two Pakistani officials said Kulbhushan has been linked to 1,345 deaths in acts of terrorism in Pakistan. They told the Associated Press that he joined India’s naval intelligence in 2001 and was later posted in Iran, from where he made secret trips to Pakistan using fake ID documents before his 2016 arrest. The officials claimed that Kulbhushan had confessed to espionage and terror-linked activities during his interrogation.
Lately Jadhav – who was caught from Balochistan last year and who has confessed to instigating terrorism in Pakistan – was awarded death penalty in an unprecedented decision that immediately sparked a bitter diplomatic spat between the two hostile neighbours.
Identified as Kulbushan Sudhir Jadhav, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) agent had been operating in Pakistan disguised as Hussein Mubarak Patel and was tried on charges of espionage and sabotage activities in Pakistan. Jadhav was arrested on March 3 last year during a counter-intelligence operation from the Mashkel area of Balochistan. A few weeks later, the army had released his recorded confessional statement in which he had admitted to have been working for RAW to stoke unrest and instability in Pakistan.
Jadhav’s video confession was made public during a joint press conference held by the army and the government wherein Asim Bajwa told that Jadhav converted to Islam, adopted a false identity. He stated that Jadhav established a network of operatives, provided funds, and arranged to smuggle people into the country for the purpose of terrorism. Asim also claimed to have confiscated maps from him. He emphasized that there could be no clearer evidence of foreign interference in Pakistan. He regarded the arrest of an intelligence or an armed forces officer of his rank a big achievement.
India accepted that an officer arrested in Pakistan served with their navy but at the same time denied that he was an agent for intelligence agency. However they communicated that Jadhav took premature retirement from the navy and the government had no link since his retirement from the Indian Navy. As usual India denied all and said that Pakistan had fabricated the documents without ascertaining discrepancies. Pakistan has previously raised concerns over involvement of foreign elements in terrorist activities in its territory but this was the first instance where India acknowledged the arrest across the border of an individual associated with its armed forces. The Pakistani High Commisioner Abdul Basit has strongly rejected India’s protest defending the death sentence. Basit reportedly told the Indian foreign secretary that “on the one hand you perpetrate terrorism in Pakistan and record protest against us on the other. We have not done anything wrong. A terrorist must be punished,” Basit further said. Pakistan considered the arrest of Jadhav as a living proof of Indian state agencies’ involvement in creating unrest in the country. Islamabad also submitted dossiers to the United Nations containing evidence of India’s involvement in terrorism based on Jadhav’s activities.
Security officials claimed that based on the information extracted from Jadhav, a major crackdown was also launched against the RAW network in Pakistan. Defence analysts and former diplomats said the decision to sentence a RAW agent would send a clear message to India that Pakistan would not accept state-sponsored terrorism from the neighbouring country.
Many here believe that Jadhav was working under India’s ‘offensive defence’ doctrine authored by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval. The doctrine envisaged exploiting Pakistan’s internal weakness while at the same time backing militant groups to foment violence in the country.
