Unity against Pak: Draft reply on Jadhav sentence, Sushma asks Tharoor

In an expression of unity against Pakistan for giving a sentence to former Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj asked Congress MP Sashi Tharoor to draft a resolution that would be used by both Houses.

According to a NDTV report, Swaraj after her statement in the lower house went up to Tharoor and requested him for the same. Tharoor, after asking permission from his party’s leader in the House agreed.

With the nation in an uproar over Pakistan sentencing Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav to death on charges of being a spy, Tharoor had also called on the Centre to get the United Nations to haul Islamabad for blatantly violating international laws.

"India has very important responsibility in terms of bilaterally communicating to Pakistan as to what we expect from them. I hope we are putting serious international pressure on Pakistan, because what Pakistan was doing is a violation of international law and that's what keeps nations safe," Tharoor told the media here outside the Parliament.

"If you are going to take arbitrary action like this against the citizen of one country, tomorrow other citizens will be unsafe," he added.

Asserting that Pakistan has violated every international rule by sentencing Jadhav, Tharoor called on the Centre to draw the attention of the international community, particularly the UN, in hauling Pakistan.

Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has said that Jadhav is the victim of a plan that seeks to cast aspersions on New Delhi to deflect international attention from Islamabad's well-known record of sponsoring and supporting terrorism.

Asserting that India's position on this matter is clear, Swaraj 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. Under these circumstances, we have no choice but to regard the sentence, if carried out, as an act of pre-meditated murder," she added while expressing her concern on this issue in the Rajya Sabha.

The External Affairs Minister further said Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar conveyed India's position to Pakistan's High Commissioner Abdul Basit yesterday.

"Let me state clearly that the Government and people of India would view very seriously the possibility that an innocent Indian citizen is facing death sentence in Pakistan without due process and in violation of basic norms of law, justice and international relations. I would caution the Pakistan Government to consider the consequences for our bilateral relationship if they proceed on this matter," said Swaraj.

"I would also like to tell the House that I have been in touch with the parents of Shri Jadhav and we are extending our fullest support to them in this difficult situation. A strong sense of solidarity expressed by the House will give them more courage at this time," she added.

Jadhav, who was arrested in March last year by Pakistan and accused by the country of spying, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court yesterday.

The move has sharply escalated tension between India and Pakistan.

Basit was yesterday summoned to protest at the conviction and sentence. India also said that Pakistan had ignored its multiple requests for consular access to Jadhav.