'Absurdity' of Pak's new video on Jadhav merits no comment: India

New Delhi [India], Jan 4 (ANI): India on Thursday said the latest 'propaganda' video released by Pakistan, featuring former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, did not come across as a surprise, adding the 'absurdity' of a captive under duress certifying his own welfare merited no comment.

The statement by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) came after, earlier in the day, Pakistan's Foreign Office released a fresh video of Jadhav in which he is seen speaking about his December 25 meeting with his mother and wife.

"This does not come as a surprise. Pakistan is simply continuing its practice of putting out coerced statements on video. It is time for them to realise that such propagandistic exercises simply carry no credibility. The absurdity of a captive under duress certifying his own welfare while mouthing allegations of his captors clearly merits no comment," MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar?, said, in a statement.

"Pakistan is best advised to fulfil its international obligations, whether it pertains to consular relations or UNSC resolutions 1267 and 1373 on terrorism and to desist from continuing violations of human rights of an Indian national," Kumar added.

The video shows Jadhav, who is on death row in Pakistan, saying that the country was taking care of him.

"I said don't worry Mummy. They [Pakistan] are taking care of me; they have not touched me. She believed me once; she saw me personally," he said.

He was further heard as saying that he is a commissioned officer of the Indian Navy.

"But I have to say one very important thing to the Indian public and Indian govt, and for people in Navy that my Commission has not gone, I am a commissioned officer of Indian Navy," he further said.

He added, "She said, 'I'm feeling very relaxed after seeing you'."

Jadhav, who is indicted on charges of espionage and subversive activities, met his mother and wife on December 25 in Islamabad, following which India denounced the manner in which Pakistan conducted the meeting.

The meeting was, however, not any ordinary meeting as Jadhav and his family members were separated by a glass barrier.

The Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), to this end, clarified that the screen was placed due to security reasons and that Jadhav already knew this would be the setting. It substantiated this stance by adding that Islamabad considered Jadhav as "the face of Indian terrorism, especially in Pakistan."

In addition to this, the MoFA released a 'confessional' video of Jadhav's, in which the convicted alleged spy was seen confessing that he did cross from Iran to Pakistan two years back.

Jadhav, in the video that was apparently shot before he got to meet his kin, also said that he had requested to meet his family members and that he was grateful to the Pakistan Government for letting that happen.

Pakistan had earlier agreed to facilitate the visit of Jadhav's family and also assured their safety, security, and freedom of movement in the country.

MEA had then said that the manner in which the meeting was conducted and its aftermath seemed clearly to be an attempt to bolster a false and unsubstantiated narrative of Jadhav's alleged activities, adding the exercise lacked credibility.

Jadhav was arrested in March last year, in Balochistan, Pakistan, over charges of alleged involvement in 'espionage and subversive activities for India's intelligence agency - the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).'

India, however, maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Indian Navy. (ANI)

This story has not been edited. It has been published as provided by ANI