India asks Pakistan for certificate on Kulbhushan Jadhav’s health

India has sought from Pakistan a certificate on the health condition of Kulbhushan Jadhav, sentenced to death by a military court there, the external affairs ministry said on Thursday.

Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said that the well being and state of Jadhav’s health is a “matter of great concern” to India as the former Indian Navy officer has been in Pakistan’s custody for more than a year on charges of espionage.

“We haven’t seen, we haven’t met (Jadhav). He has been in Pakistan’s custody for more than a year. So the well being and state of health of Jadhav is a matter of great concern.

“We have asked Pakistani government earlier also, and yesterday our High Commissioner (to Pakistan Gautam Bambawale) made a request on providing a report on his medical condition. So we await Pakistan’s response,” Baglay said.

Pakistan on Thursday stuck to its stand on Jadhav’s sentencing, saying the military court’s ruling was based on specific evidence and the trial was conducted in a “transparent” manner.

Pakistan’s assertion came a day after India handed over an appeal by the mother of retired Indian Navy officer Jadhav, sentenced to death by the field general court martial, to the appellate court, initiating a process to get his conviction overturned.

Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria claimed that Jadhav has been tried for espionage according to the law of the land in a “transparent manner”.

Jadhav’s sentencing was based on specific evidence as well as his “confessional statement” that also led to the dismantling of the terror network in the country, Zakaria was quoted as saying by Radio Pakistan.

Zakaria’s remarks at a briefing came a day after the appeal on behalf of Jadhav was given to Pakistan’s foreign secretary Tehmina Janjua by Indian High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale, who also handed over a petition by Jadhav’s mother seeking the Pakistan government’s intervention for his release and expressing the desire to meet him.

Jadhav was given death sentence earlier this month, evoking a sharp reaction in India which warned Pakistan of consequences and damage to bilateral ties if the “pre- meditated murder” was carried out.

Zakaria, during his briefing, also claimed that there was “irrefutable proof” that India was not only “perpetrating terrorism” but also using the Afghan soil to destabilise it.

Zakaria said that India’s role in “sponsoring terrorism” in Pakistan was “fully exposed” in light of the statements of Jadhav and former Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan.

“The revelations made by former spokesperson of TTP Ehsansullah Ehsan and the confessional statement of Kulbhushan Jadhav are irrefutable proofs against India,” he said.

Zakaria claimed that India was not only sending spies inside Pakistan to “perpetrate terrorism” but also using the Afghan soil to “destabilise” the country.

He also claimed that as many as 13 Indian “RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) agents” were killed in the ‘mother of all bombs’ attack carried out by the US in Afghanistan earlier this month. He said this had vindicated Pakistan’s claims.

Zakaria said that Ehsan has stated that Jamaat-ul Ahrar terror group was working on Indian agenda to destabilise Pakistan.

Zakaria, in his briefing, also slammed the clampdown on internet in Kashmir and claimed that India had banned it to “hide grave human rights violations”.

He also criticised the alleged arrest of Kashmiri leaders.

On the disappearance of retired Pakistani colonel Habib Zahir in Nepal, the spokesperson said Pakistan’s mission in the country was closely looking into the matter.

He said it was a case of entrapment and the involvement of India cannot be ruled out.