India on Thursday, July 16, got consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav, the Indian national sentenced to death by Pakistan military court on charges of espionage. Currently, the Indian officials are at the Pakistan Foreign Office.
The Indian High Commission officials have been provided a two-hour window with Kulbhushan Jadhav. This is the second consular access to Jadhav, who is presently at a place that has been declared a sub-jail; the first access was given back in September 2019.
New Delhi had earlier asked Pakistan's capital Islamabad to give "unconditional consular access" to Jadhav, according to reports. This request was made ahead of the July 20 deadline to file a review petition.
Pakistan has also claimed that Jadhav had refused to file a review plea on the Pakistani court military court's judgment which awarded the death penalty to the former naval officer on charges of espionage. However, India said that he had been coerced into doing that.
"Last time what they did was insulting to his mother, father and wife and insulting to India as a whole. So we want that consular access should be unconditional," Arvind Singh, Kulbhushan Jadhav's childhood friend, told a news agency.
Who is Kulbhushan Jadhav
An Indian national -- Kulbhushan Jadhav -- is accused of carrying out espionage and sabotage activities against Pakistan at the behest of India's intelligence agency, however, India has denied all the allegations.
India's nuclear-armed neighbour Pakistan claims the former Indian Navy officer was arrested on March 3, 2016, in Balochistan. However, the Indian side maintains that he was kidnapped from Iran, where he was running a business in the port city of Chabahar after a "premature retirement" from the Navy.
