Islamabad/New Delhi: Pakistan has said it had “confiscated” the shoes of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav’s wife because “there was something metallic in it”.
Pakistan was responding to India’s allegations after New Delhi hit out at Islamabad for the way it treated the wife and mother of Jadhav, sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of spying. They were allowed to meet Jadhav for 45 minutes across a glass screen on Monday in Islamabad.
New Delhi has accused Pakistani officials of taking away the shoes of Jadhav’s wife Chetankul and not returning them “for some inexplicable reason, despite her repeated requests”.
“There was something in the shoe. It is being investigated. We gave her a pair of replacement shoes. All her jewellery etc were returned after the meeting,” DawnNews quoted Pakistan’s foreign office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal as saying.
In an official statement, Pakistan rejected as “baseless” India’s contentions that Jadhav’s family was harassed.
The Foreign Office said Pakistan “does not wish to indulge in a meaningless battle of words”.
It said: “If Indian concerns were serious, the guests or the Indian Deputy High Commissioner should have raised them during the visit, with the media, which was readily available, but at a safe distance, as requested by India.”
India has accused Pakistan of violating the mutual agreement on the Jadhav family visit and has also said Jadhav appeared coerced and “under considerable stress” during the tightly-controlled interaction.
Jadhav’s mother and wife were forced to change their clothes and remove “mangal sutra, bangles and bindi”, said New Delhi.
Jadhav, meeting his family eight months after being sentenced to death, sat behind a glass screen and spoke through the intercom. Pakistan tweeted photos and apparently recorded the entire interaction on video.
Kulbushan was arrested last year in Pakistan and accused of spying – which India has strongly refuted. New Delhi has said Jadhav was kidnapped in Iran where he had legitimate business interests.
In May, the World Court ordered Pakistan to halt his execution.
Agencies
