New Delhi, Apr 17: India has not received the certified copies of the charge sheet and orders of a Pakistan military court which awarded death sentence to former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, almost 48 hours after making the official request.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Gopal Bagley said on Sunday that the government was yet to receive the documents, which are essential to prepare Jadhav’s legal defence in Pakistan’s supreme court.
The request was made by the Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad Gautam Bambawale on Friday afternoon when he met Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua.
He also sought consular access to Jadhav for the 14th time, even though Pakistan had denied every request made so far.
Indian officials said the top brass of the government was in touch with Jadhav’s family, but that copies of the charge sheet and court order are required to file an appeal in the higher judiciary in Pakistan.
After Bambawala’s meeting with Tehmina, Pakistan prime minister’s advisor Sartaj Aziz issued a statement detailing some of the charges against the Indian veteran. Aziz said the conviction was based on “specific and credible” evidence.
The former diplomat, however, had taken an opposite stand in the Pakistan senate in December, saying the evidence against Jadhav was “not conclusive”.
Meanwhile, the two neighbours have pressed the pause button on their bilateral engagements — a pre-scheduled meeting between the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) has been cancelled.
The meeting, that was to start on Monday, would have come against a backdrop of the ICG rescuing two PMSA personnel off the coast of Gujarat, after their boat met with an accident.
Neither the ICG nor the Ministry of External Affairs said anything on record about the meeting that stands cancelled.
A technical meeting, on the Indus Water Treaty, between commissioners from both countries was shelved as well. The meeting, which was to take place in Washington, was a proposal from the World Bank which is mediating between the two nations.
Pak to submit new dossier to UN
Pakistan has prepared a new dossier about the alleged militant activities of Indian prisoner on death row Kulbhushan Jadhav and will share it with the UN and foreign envoys stationed in Islamabad, media reports have said, reports PTI.
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