NEW DELHI / ISLAMABAD: India again told Pakistan on Saturday that it should provide full diplomatic assistance to the Indian citizen Kulbhushan Jadhav as soon as possible. Jadhav has been sentenced to death by a military court in Pakistan for alleged involvement in espionage and subversive activities. India has made a fresh appeal from Pakistan at a time when both countries have exchanged lists of prisoners lodged in each other’s jails.
According to the list of Pakistan shared with India, at least 546 Indian nationals, including about 500 fishermen, are locked up in various jails.
The Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement in Delhi and said, “India once again requested Pakistan to provide full diplomatic assistance to Indian nationals lodged in Pakistani jails, including Hamid-e-Islam Ansari and Kulbhushan Jadhav”. India had approached the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Jadhav’s death sentence. On 18th May, the ICJ stopped Jadhav from giving death sentence to Pakistan.
Ansari, a resident of Mumbai, was arrested in 2012 for allegedly being illegally lodged in Pakistan from Afghanistan. He allegedly went to meet a girl, whom he had made friendship through the Internet. Ansari was later missing. He was arrested and then a military court in Pakistan sued him, who convicted him of espionage.
In his list, Pakistan’s Foreign Office said that Indian prisoners included ’52 common prisoners and 494 fishermen’.
The list of prisoners was exchanged under the provisions of a bilateral agreement on 21 May 2008. According to the agreement, the list of prisoners has to be exchanged twice a year – 1 January and 1 July
