Issue amounts to blackmail: Former RAW chief Dulat on Jadhav's death sentence

Stating his views on the death sentence given to Kulbhushan Jadhav in Pakistan, former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief A.S. Dulat on Monday asserted that this issue amounted to blackmail and anything could happen in Pakistan.

"This issue amounts to blackmail. Anything is possible in Pakistan and having said that I'm sure sanity will prevail. There are many of these kinds of cases all over the country. It's not something unique," Dulat told ANI.

Dulat further said that our diplomats would have to work and dissolve this issue soon.

"All the diplomats have to work on it and come to a conclusion soon. The point is they have arrested him for espionage so why hang him? The NSS and Pakistan diplomats have a good relation. So, they can speak on it and dissolve issues," said Dulat.

Earlier today, Pakistan Military sentenced Jadhav to death, its media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

"The spy was tried through Field General Court Martial (FGCM) under the Pakistan Army Act (PAA) and awarded the death sentence. Today Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa confirmed his death sentence awarded by FGCM," the ISPR said.

Strongly reacting to this, India summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit and issued a demarche.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the Indian High Commission in Islamabad was not even informed about Jadhav's trial in the court.

The ministry added that the subsequent presence of Jadhav, who was kidnapped last year from Iran, has never been explained credibly by the Pakistani authorities.

"If this sentence against an Indian citizen, awarded without observing basic norms of law and justice, is carried out, the Government and people of India will regard it as a case of premeditated murder," an official statement read.

Earlier in March 2016, the Ministry of External Affairs said that the former Indian naval officer was arrested by Pakistan for allegedly engaging in subversive activities was possibly kidnapped from Iran and denied any possibilities of him being involved in subversive activities in Pakistan.

'Kulbhushan Yadav', the accused, used to run a business in the Iranian port city of Chabahar. He was seen in a video confessing that he was an official of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India's external intelligence agency.

"The government categorically rejects allegations that this individual was involved in subversive activities in Pakistan at our behest. Our enquiries reveal that he apparently was being harassed while operating a legitimate business from Iran. While we probe this aspect further, his presence now in Pakistan raises questions, including the possibility of his abduction from Iran," the ministry had said.

-ANI