April 12, 2017
India-Pakistan relations worsen over espionage episode
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
The already troubled India-Pakistan relationship has been plunged into deep uncertainty after Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian alleged spy, was sentenced on Monday (April 10, 2017) to death for espionage and sabotage activities in Pakistan.
Monday’s development comes at a time when tensions between Pakistan and India run high. The past six months have seen a war of words between officials from the Indian and Pakistani governments.
Ties between the nuclear-armed neighbors worsened after India blamed Pakistan for an attack on an Indian military camp in Uri inside India-administered Kashmir on Sept 18, 2016 where around 20 Indian soldiers were killed.
India alleged that Pakistan-backed terrorists were involved in the attack and initially claimed that weapons recovered from them bore Pakistani markings. However, this assertion was debunked by the Indian media itself, forcing the Indian Army to retract the claim.
Since then, frequent episodes of firing have been reported by the Pakistan military on the Line of Control. The escalation continued when India claimed it carried out "surgical strikes" across the control line on Sept 29, claims Pakistan rejected as baseless.
Indian Reaction
Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday (April 11) assured lawmakers that New Delhi would go "out of its way" to save Kulbhushan Jadhav from death row in Pakistan.
Calling Jadhav "a son of India", Swaraj issued a warning to Pakistan saying, "I would caution the Pakistani government to consider the consequences for our bilateral relationship if they proceed on this matter." "Our position is very clear, there is no evidence of wrongdoing by Kulbhushan Jadhav," she told the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian parliament.
"This is an act of premeditated murder," she said, referring to the death sentence handed to the Indian spy by a Field General Court Martial (FGCM).
Ruling Bhartia Junta Party (BJP) MP Subramanian Swamy, said Tuesday that "If Pakistan hangs Kulbhushan Jadhav, then India must recognize Balochistan as an independent country." He further said if Pakistan commits what he called another atrocity after this then its Sindh province should also be seceded. Swamy said that the government must warn Pakistan of serious consequences after it awarded death sentence to Jadhav.
Tellingly, Pakistan has long claimed that outside powers have tried to both meddle in Balochistan and use the border region to destabilize Pakistan as a whole. Jadhav’s arrest and now conviction suggest an effort by the Pakistani security establishment to put a face on the long-alleged crimes against Pakistan.
After years of allegations, the broad contours of Indian involvement in Balochistan in particular, perhaps Karachi too, have become apparent, leading Pakistani newspaper Dawn said adding: The present right-wing government in India may be more frank in its willingness to pursue covert actions against Pakistan and may have ratcheted up those activities, but Indian interference in Balochistan has been a steady complaint of the Pakistani state for over a decade.
Jadha’s trial
Jadhav was arrested on March 3, 2016, in Balochistan's Mashkel area for his involvement in espionage and sabotage activities against Pakistan, according to the Army Public Relations.
"His goal was to disrupt development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), with Gwadar port as a special target," Army Public Relations Director Lt Gen Asim Bajwa had said, adding, "This is nothing short of state-sponsored terrorism... There can be no clearer evidence of Indian interference in Pakistan."
Jadhav was tried by Field General Court Martial (FGCM) under Section 59 of the Pakistan Army Act (PAA) and Section 3 of the official Secret Act of 1923. He was charged with spying for the Indian spy agency the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) and being involved in subversive activities in the Gilgit-Baltistan region.
Jadhav confessed
A resident of Mumbai's suburban Powai neighborhood, Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav belongs to a family of police officers. In his confession video statement to Pakistani authorities, Jadhav said he is currently a serving officer in the Indian Navy ─ a claim India has denied. He joined the National Defense Academy in 1987, and then the Indian Navy in 1991, where he served until December 2001. "I am still a serving officer in the Indian Navy and will be due for retirement by 2022 as a commissioned officer in the Indian Navy," he confessed.
Jadhav also said he had commenced intelligence operations in 2003, and established a business in Chahbahar, Iran, where he was able to go undetected and visit Karachi in 2003 and 2004. He has been directing various subversive activities in Karachi and Balochistan. His job, he said, was to hold meetings with Baloch insurgents and collaborate with them to carry out activities "of a criminal nature, leading to the killing or maiming of Pakistani citizens."
Jadhav was arrested by Pakistani authorities in March 2016, when he attempted to cross over into the country from the Saravan border in Iran. India, however, claims that Jadhav was abducted by Pakistan from Iran. According to Indian Foreing Minister Sushma Swaraj, Jadhav had been conductinng business affairs in Iran, which is where he had been kidnapped and taken to Pakistan.
According to Dawn, spy wars between India and Pakistan erupt on occasion; the tit-for-tat actions against high commission officials in Islamabad and New Delhi last year being the most recent public incident. “But Jadhav’s case is far beyond routine action and could herald a new, highly destabilizing round of covert actions by one country against the other’s security and intelligence apparatus. It can only be hoped that back-channel communications or third-party interventions will help India and Pakistan quickly de-escalate tensions and, if necessary, establish new rules on the spycraft that all countries carry.”
Abdus Sattar Ghazali is the Chief Editor of the Journal of America.
The Journal of America Team:
Editor in chief:
Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Senior Editor:
Prof. Arthur Scott
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