Pakistan puts Kulbhushan Jadhav on backburner

New Delhi: The abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir may effect the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav, on death row in Pakistan since 2017 for espionage. The ministry of external affairs (MEA) maintains it is diplomatically working out with Islamabad consular access to Jadhav as per the International Court of Justice (ICJ)’s verdict on July 17. How-ever, sources in Islamabad say they are focussing all their energies on the Kashmir issue, and that Jadhav’s case was now on the backburner.

New Delhi maintains there has been a lot of back and forth lately over the issue of access, meaning that Pakistan’s doors haven’t yet been shut. “The Pakistanis have sent us communications and we have sent our replies,” a source said.

Any perceived concessions to India may not be a priority for Islamabad now, though the “Jadhav card” may be held in hand for future contingencies. “Jadhav may be released at a later date in a swap if such an eventuality arises. He is not the first spy in the world to have been caught,” a Pakistani source claimed from Islamabad.