Pakistan has no intentions of extraditing alleged Indian spy Kulbushan Jadhav, the country’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz told the Senate on Friday, reported Geo News. He said a First Information Report had already been filed against Jadhav and a case was being prepared against him. He was arrested from Balochistan in March 2016 on charges of helping Baloch separatists. He reportedly entered the country through Iran.
Aziz also said that Islamabad has intimated the United Nations about India’s alleged interference in Pakistan’s internal disputes, vis-à-vis the Balochistan separatist movement. He said the Nawaz Sharif government is also considering informing other countries about India’s alleged interference into their internal matters.
Senator Sehar Kamran asked about the delay in the formation of a dossier in the case. Aziz said the delay was because of the sensitive nature of the information it contains. He told the Senate that the government had no plans to hand Jadhav over to India. He was asked by Senator Talha Mahmood whether Kulbushan Yadav would be given “red carpet” treatment, as was given to American spy Raymond Davis. “It has never been said that there was any lack of evidence against him,” Aziz said.
In December 2016, Pakistan had denied reports that Aziz had informed the Senate about the lack of evidence against Jadhav. Pakistani media as well as PTI had reported that Aziz said the dossier on Jhadav only contained “statements about his involvement in terror activities in Pakistan”.
However, Pakistan later released a statement denying the reports, which the government called “absolutely incorrect”. “There is irrefutable proof against Kulbhushan Yadav who had also made a public confession in March this year,” the statement said.
“What the dossier contained was not enough. Now it is up to the concerned authorities, how long they take to give us more matter on the agent,” Aziz had said, according to the news agency. Pakistan had claimed that Jadhav is a spy associated with India’s Research and Analysis Wing, and had accused him of planning “subversive activities”. He was arrested in March from Balochistan province’s Chaman area – located close to the Afghan border – after he entered the country from Iran.
The Balochistan government had charged Jadhav with terrorism, sabotage and the violation of its Foreigner Act in a First Information Report filed against him in April. The Counter-Terrorism Department had also lodged a case against him in the provincial capital of Quetta.
After his arrest, the Pakistani Army had released what they claimed was a “confessional video”. While India had admitted that he was a retired Indian Navy officer, it denied all claims that he was involved with the government in any way.
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