Pakistan has gone two extra miles

Two key developments in relation to issue related of RAW agent Kulbhushan Jadhav, which have taken New Delhi by complete surprise. First, it was his conviction and confirmation of death sentence by army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa in April, provoking India's ruling BJP and its cohorts to declare that Jadhav, who had caused mayhem and destruction in Balochistan and elsewhere in Pakistan, was no longer alive. He had "already died," it was claimed due to excessive torture in custody ever since he was "kidnapped in Iran before he was brought to Pakistan." Those who were trying to mislead the world, more so the people of India, were BJP-leaning top broadcast commentators such as Colonel R.S.N. Singh, Major-General Bakhshi and Lieutenant-General Jaswal, all retired. The BJP's Dr Sambit Patra and RSS ideologue Ratan Sharta have also been involved in this sinister anti-Pakistan campaign.
The second development that pulled the rug from under the Indian feet was Pakistan's offer to Jadhav's wife to visit her husband before he is sent to the gallows because of a laundry list of crimes to which India's naval commander had confessed voluntarily. India decided not to respond to this offer, rather than accept it, if anything to thank Pakistan for its decency. It seems to have found a new opportunity to muddy the waters still further for bilateral relations.
New Delhi now demands that Jadhav's wife, as well as his mother, be accompanied by an Indian envoy. The list of demands doesn't end here: it also seeks guarantees from Pakistan that the women would not be questioned or "harassed" during their visit to Pakistan. Unfortunately, however, India's foreign ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar must have been reading from another script when he stated that his government is determined to "pursue all measures" with "full vigour" to secure the final release of an "innocent Indian." As to why the Pakistani offer was unacceptable, "such a meeting offer does not absolve Pakistan of the violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and Human Rights and not following the due process in treating Jadhav who remains incarcerated in Pakistan and faces death sentence through a farcical process and on concocted charges."
India is trying to reinterpret Pakistan's offer as an attempt to counter India's argument at the International Court of Justice that Jadhav was denied any consular access. But the issue is reported to have been discussed in a meeting between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and the newly-appointed Pakistani High Commissioner to New Delhi, Sohail Mahmood. The report is more plausible than Raveesh Kumar's claim: no country provides consular access to a spy who has caused subversive activities, and that on a massive scale. The India's growing belligerence is not only characterized by anti-Pakistan rhetoric; New Delhi is also making it clear that it is not going to buy Islamabad's explanation, come what may - on any grounds, for that matter.
After staying Jadhav's death sentence in May, the ICJ had asked Pakistan to submit its response or memorandum by December 13, before the court could start further proceedings in the case. Therefore, there must be no complacency on Pakistan's part by the time the next ICJ hearing takes place. Pakistan has not only gone the extra mile, it has in fact gone two extra miles insofar as the humanitarian aspect of the Indian spy's case is concerned.
India under Narendra Modi is engaging in a fierce display of confidence and aggression in order to deceive and intimidate. Here is the reason behind this posturing by him and his BJP: in this month's elections in his home state of Gujarat, the patriarch of the Catholic Church has come out strongly against the Sangh Parivar, urging fellow Indians not to vote for those who have been committing atrocities on India's minorities - Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Jains and others.