Arrested Indian harassed in Pak, his 'confession video' tutored: Govt

ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI: The Pakistan government on Tuesday released alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav's confessional video in which he is shown owning up to clandestine activities in the country. The Indian government rejected the allegation that Jadhav had acted at its behest and counter-charged that the former navy officer was "tutored" by Pakistanis.The video was aired during a joint press conference by Pakistan's information minister Pervez Rasheed and Army spokesman Lt Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa in Islamabad."Jadhav, a serving Indian Navy officer, was directly handled by the RAW chief, the Indian National Security Adviser and RAW's joint secretary," Bajwa told reporters in Islamabad. "Your monkey is with us," Bajwa said, adding Yadav gave ISI the code to contact RAW that he has been arrested. But, in a statement Tuesday evening, MEA spokesperson demanded Pakistan give India immediate consular access to the person. MEA indicated India's investigations show a different narrative from the one Pakistan is putting out."Our enquiries reveal he apparently was being harassed while operating a legitimate business from Iran. While we probe this aspect further, his presence now in Pakistan raises questions, including the possibility of his abduction from Iran," the MEA statement said.Denying the statements made by Jadhav in the video that he had been instigating Baloch organisations including students for "maiming and killing" Pakistanis, MEA said it denied "this individual was involved in subversive activities in Pakistan at our behest."India has acknowledged Jadhav was an Indian citizen and a former naval officer. They have asked for consular access to him, which has been denied by Pakistan. "We have not been given consular access to an Indian national under detention in a foreign country, as is the accepted international practice. We are naturally concerned about his well-being in these circumstances," he said. Commenting on the statements, MEA said, "The video has this individual making statements which have no basis in fact. That the individual claims to make the statements of his own free will not only challenges credulity but clearly indicates tutoring."The video, which has been edited and spliced, shows Jadhav saying he is a serving naval officer, that he joined the intelligence services since 2003 and has been running a spy operation in Balochistan from Iran with the aim of instigating terrorist incidents there.Sources said this was Pakistan's way of trying to deflect attention from homegrown terror and pass on blame for all the recent violence in Pakistan on to India. Analysts say this is dangerous in the long run. By staging this charade, Pak authorities are refusing to address their domestic problem and making it impossible for India-Pakistan to ever normalize ties.