Pak violated spirit of our understandings: India on Jadhav's meet with kin

New Delhi [India], Dec 26 (ANI): India has denounced the manner in which Pakistan conducted the meeting of former Indian Naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav with his wife and mother.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar on Tuesday said, "We note with regret that the Pakistani side conducted the meeting in a manner which violated the letter and spirit of our understandings."

"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.

Raveesh Kumar 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.

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 his 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)