Associating the government with the unanimous concern of members across parties in the Lok Sabha over the Pakistan Supreme Court’s pronouncement of death sentence to former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday warned Pakistan to consider the “consequences” on its bilateral relationship with India if it goes ahead in the matter.
"I would caution Pakistan government to consider the consequences for our bilateral relationship if they proceed on this matter," Swaraj said in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, after the entire House condemned Pakistan’s actions and even urged the government to raise the issue in international fora.
In her statement to the House, the Minister said: "There is no evidence of wrongdoing by Jadhav. If anything, he is the victim of a plan that seeks to cast aspersions on India to deflect international attention from Pakistan's well-known record of sponsoring and supporting terrorism."
Swaraj said the government would do everything possible to get justice for Jadhav, adding that the “exact circumstances are unclear and can only be ascertained if we get consular access.”
Earlier, responding to concerns expressed by members, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said Pakistan had told the media there that Jadhav was carrying a valid Indian passport, and wondered why a spy would carry a valid passport. “This exposes Pakistan’s action,” he added.
As soon as the House met for the day, members cutting across party lines slammed Pakistan for awarding the death sentence to Jadhav, with the Opposition blaming the government for not taking up the matter strongly.
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge wondered why the government remained silent on the issue. His remarks attracted the ire of BJP members who said the government was condemning the incident.
“Without an invitation, you can attend a marriage, but you cannot meet him or talk to him on the issue,” Kharge said, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to visit Pakistan to attend the marriage of Nawaz Sharif’s daughter near Lahore.
Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said: “There should be no spat on the issue. We all are equally concerned about the fate of Jadhav.”
Kharge said while India granted access to Pakistan to visit Pathankot to gather evidence on the terror strike, Islamabad had denied consular access to Jadhav.
Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM) urged the government to use its influence for the release of the Indian citizen, while Shashi Tharoor (Congress) said while India has always preferred not to internationalise its relations with Pakistan, it is time New Delhi told the world that tomorrow one of their citizens can face a similar fate in Pakistan. He wanted the matter to be raised in international fora.