Pak disregarded cultural, religious sensibilities of Jadhav's family: India

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday said Pakistan had disregarded the cultural and religious sensibilities of former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav's family, who met him on Monday in Islamabad.

The wife and the mother of Jadhav were asked to remove mangal sutra, bangles and bindi, besides having been asked to change the attire, citing it as a security measure.

"Under the pretext of security precautions, the cultural and religious sensibilities of family members were disregarded. This included the removal of mangal sutra, bangles and bindi, as well as a change in attire that was not warranted by security," MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

Kumar added the Pakistani press, despite prior agreement that the media would not be allowed close access, was allowed on multiple occasions to approach the family members closely, harass and hector them and hurl false and motivated accusations about Jadhav.

"For some inexplicable reason, despite her repeated requests, the shoes of the wife of Jadhav were not returned to her after the meeting. We would caution against any mischievous intent in this regard," he said.

Kumar also denounced the manner in which Pakistan conducted the meeting.

"We note with regret that the Pakistani side conducted the meeting in a manner which violated the letter and spirit of our understandings," he said.

"Prior to the meeting, the two governments were in touch through diplomatic channels to work out its modalities and format. There were clear understandings between the two sides and the Indian side scrupulously abided by all its commitments," he added.

He further said that the Indian Deputy High Commissioner in Pakistan, who was supposed to be with the family all the time, was initially separated from family members who were taken to the meeting without informing him.

The meeting began without his presence and he could join only after pressing the matter with concerned officials. Even then, he was kept behind an additional partition that did not allow him access to the meeting as agreed, Kumar added.

The MEA spokesperson concluded by saying 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.

Earlier today, Jadhav's wife and mother met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi.

Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and Raveesh Kumar were also present at Swaraj's residence.

The two women returned this morning after meeting the convicted Jadhav in Pakistan.

Jadhav's meeting with his family members was not any ordinary meeting as they were separated by a glass barrier.

Jadhav's meeting with his family members was not any ordinary meeting as they 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 another '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.

Jadhav was arrested in March this 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