India has said it is not aware of retired Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav's whereabouts as it has not been able to contact him even once since his arrest in March 2016.

"We don't know where Kulbhushan Jadhav has been kept. We have been denied consular access to him. Thus, we don't know where he is and his condition. Pakistan government has not shared any information with us," said Gopal Baglay, spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), here on Thursday.

He said despite issuing a strongly-worded demarche to Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit, India has not been able to get access to Jadhav. India is expected to make another request to the Pakistani authorities for consular access to Jadhav, who was arrested from Iran's Chahbahar Port.

“We have to verify how Kulbhushan Jadhav walked into Pakistan with a valid passport in his pocket. We need to meet him to ascertain this and several other issues,” he said.

India has not received any report from the Iranian government on this issue even through they said they were conducting an investigation into the matter last year.

Jadhav was given the death sentence by the Pakistani army during a court martial on March 10, which India has called "premeditated murder."

Baglay also said it is clear Pakistan has no concrete evidence against him because their government had itself asked for evidence from India in December last year.

He added that Pakistan has violated the basic tenets of the bilateral agreement on consular access and all international conventions.

“This is a matter which has moved national sentiment, there is national focus on this matter. Leadership is seized of the matter and we have said we will do all that is possible,” he said.

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