Pakistan will not be releasing Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian national arrested on charges of espionage, and he will be prosecuted according to Pakistani laws, Pakistan's foreign policy chief Sartaj Aziz said on Friday. Jadhav has been booked for terrorist activities.
Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer, was arrested in March 2016 from Balochistan. He, however, says that he was there for business. On the other hand, Pakistan claims that he is a member of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). The allegations have been denied by the Narendra Modi government.
Sartaj Aziz said that the Pakistan government is not looking at any option to extradite Jadhav. The government has also sent a list of questions to India.
"We have prepared an FIR and a case is in the process of registration to prosecute the Indian state actor for involvement in subversive and terrorist activities in Pakistan," Sartaj Aziz told the Senate of Pakistan.
The foreign policy advisor was responding to lawmaker Talha Mehmood, who asked if the Pakistan government would be giving 'red carpet' treatment to Jadhav, similar to CIA contractor Raymond Davis.
Davis was arrested in 2011 after shooting two men in Lahore. He was able to leave Pakistan after paying $2.4 million 'blood money.'
Sartaj Aziz added that a dossier about India's involvement in "subversive and terrorist activities" has also been sent to the UN Secretary General.
"This dossier includes details about Kulbashan Jadhav and his activities," Aziz said. "This is a very delicate and sensitive issue and requires detailed preparations and home work as it relates to direct or indirect involvement of Indian state actor in subversive and terrorist activities in Pakistan," he added.
In December 2016, reports in Pakistan media quoted Aziz as saying that there wasn't enough evidence to indict Jadhav. However, he went back on those statements on Friday. "So far, we have just statements about the involvement of the Indian spy in terror activities in Pakistan," Aziz was quoted as saying by the Dawn.
Pakistan had also released a video showing Jadhav confessing to being a RAW agent. However, India claims that Jadhav is a businessman, who was kidnapped by radical group Jaish ul-Adl, aligned to Al-Qaeda. The forensic analysis of the video showed that it was heavily edited.
