Kulbhushan Jadhav Case: Ex-Naval Officer Appeared To Be Under Extreme Pressure, Says MEA

After the meeting, MEA held a press conference in which the ministry said that the while a comprehensive report is still awaited.

Kulbhushan Jadhav Case: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Monday said that Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on the charges of "espionage and terrorism", appeared to be under "extreme pressure" to parrot a false Pakistani narrative.

Kulbhushan Jadhav Case: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Monday said that Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on the charges of "espionage and terrorism", appeared to be under "extreme pressure" to parrot a false Pakistani narrative. The statement came after Indian Charge d' Affaires Gaurav Ahluwalia on Monday met Kulbhushan Jadhav at a Pakistani sub-jail for over an hour, after Islamabad granted consular access to the Indian national in line with the International Court of Justice directions. After the meeting, MEA held a press conference in which the ministry said that the while a comprehensive report is still awaited. "The Charge d’ Affaires, High Commission of India in Islamabad, met Kulbhushan Jadhav today. While we await a comprehensive report, it was clear that he appeared to be under extreme pressure to parrot a false narrative to bolster Pak’s untenable claims," the Ministry of External Affairs said. MEA further said, "We"ll decide a further course of action after receiving a detailed report from our Charge d’ Affaires and determining the extent of conformity to the ICJ directives. External Affairs Minister has spoken to the mother of Kulbhushan Jadhav & briefed her of today’s developments."

MEA: We"ll decide a further course of action after receiving a detailed report from our Charge d’ Affaires and determining the extent of conformity to the ICJ directives. External Affairs Minister has spoken to the mother of #KulbhushanJadhav & briefed her of today’s developments https://t.co/N3UlP5Hu02

— ANI (@ANI) September 2, 2019

The meeting between the senior Indian diplomat and Jadhav is the first since he was arrested on charges of alleged espionage three years ago. In its July 17 verdict, the ICJ had directed Pakistan for continued stay on the death sentence of Jadhav and to provide him consular access. India had declined the earlier offer of consular access to Jadhav as Pakistan had set some conditions, like insisting that it will have its own person present during the meeting between Indian officials and Jadhav. Pakistan had refused to allow Indian officials to meet Jadhav ever since his "arrest" in March 2016 for alleged espionage. In April 2017, he was sentenced to death by a military court, after which India approached the ICJ.