Even as the Pakistani media on Tuesday cautioned the Government on the death sentence handed out to Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav for “spying”, with experts weighing in the diplomatic fallout of the move, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said Pakistan’s armed forces are fully capable and prepared to respond to any spectrum of threat.
Sharif’s remarks came on a day when New Delhi warned Islamabad to consider the consequences on bilateral ties if Jadhav is hanged.
Addressing the passing out parade of graduating cadets at Pakistan Air Force Academy (PAF) Asghar Khan in Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa, Sharif said, “The nation has full trust in the country’s armed forces.” He assured the forces of Government’s full support in equipping it to address modern day challenges.
He at the same time said that Pakistan wants good relations with all countries, particularly its neighbours. Sharif, however, added, “Despite our desire for peaceful coexistence, we cannot remain oblivious to defending our sovereignty and protecting our independence”.
However, indirectly opposing the death sentence handed out to Jadhav, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said the issue is controversial but his party is against capital punishment “on principle”. “The issue of Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav is controversial. He must not have been here in the first place,” Bilawal told reporters.
Recalling that his maternal grandfather Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was also sentenced to death, he said his party is against capital punishment on principle.
PPP Punjab president and former federal information minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said the India’s reaction on Jadhav’s death sentence was “natural”. “In fact Nawaz Sharif Government has failed to tell the world about the charge sheet on Jadhav. Had India arrested such a Pakistani spy it would have propagated a lot in the world,” he said.
Justifying the death penalty given to the Indian national, Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that Jadhav has a right to appeal against his death sentence within 60 days.
Speaking in the Senate, Upper House of Parliament, the Defence Minister said that Jadhav has the right to appeal against his death sentence within 60 days.
Dismissing Indian concerns that proper legal process was not observed in the trial, Asif said, “There was nothing in the [legal] proceedings that was against the law.” “It’s not premeditated murder, what’s happening in Kashmir is (premeditated murder),” he alleged.
He further said that the trial of Jadhav went for went on “for three months”, rejecting rumours that he was hastily convicted.
Describing death sentence handed out to Jadhav as “unprecedented”, the Pakistani media warned the Government to brace for India’s retaliation.
Right-wing English-language newspaper ‘The Nation’ in its front page lead ‘Death to spy spikes tensions’ observed that “a military court on Monday sentenced a high-profile Indian spy to death, ratcheting up longstanding tensions between the nuclear-armed states.”
The paper also quoted political and defence analyst Dr Hassan Askari that the decision to execute Jadhav would “further increase tension between the two countries”. “The military has given a severe punishment which is according to Pakistani law,” said Askari, adding, “But we will have to see if Pakistan can sustain the political and diplomatic fallout.”
The Express Tribune in the front page headline ‘Self- confessed Indian spy awarded death sentence’ termed the decision as “unprecedented”. It reported that the decision immediately sparked a bitter diplomatic spat between the two “hostile” neighbours.
The influential Dawn newspaper termed the decision as a “rare move”. The paper said that the development comes at a time when tensions between Pakistan and India are already running high.
It published a full column on what experts feel about the decision. Some feel the reaction from India will be strong, others maintain there will be no dramatic shift in the relationship, it said.
Hamid Mir, senior journalist at Geo News said, “Pakistan should make the evidence found against the spy public, share it with the country and also internationally.”