By: KeerthiMohan
Pakistan on Thursday said that there was no plan to grant India consular access to death row convict Kulbhushan Jadhav for a second time.
Jadhav, 49, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of “espionage and terrorism” in April 2017, following which India had moved the International Court of Justice (ICJ), seeking a stay on his death sentence and further remedies.
Charge d’Affaires at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad Gaurav Ahluwalia met Jadhav on September 2 for two hours after Pakistan granted consular access to the retired Indian Navy officer following a directive from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in July.
“There is no other meeting planned,” Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said in response to a question about Pakistan giving consular access to Jadhav again.
Pakistan claims that its security forces arrested Jadhav from the restive Balochistan province on March 3, 2016 after he reportedly entered from Iran.
However, India maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Navy.
When asked whether Pakistan would charge USD 20 per person as service fee for the Kartarpur Corridor, Faisal said, “This fee will only be charged in order to supplement the enormous expenditure which the Government of Pakistan is undertaking to complete and maintain the Kartarpur Saheb Corridor and to provide services to the pilgrims.”
“I would assert that this fee will not even cover a fraction of the cost that our Government is bearing in order to facilitate the pilgrims,” he said.
The proposed corridor will connect Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district and facilitate visa-free movement of Indian Sikh pilgrims. Kartarpur Sahib was established in 1522 by Sikh faith founder Guru Nanak Dev.
(PTI)
