The ministry of external affairs (MEA) on Tuesday night rubbished Pakistan’s claim of Indian spy agency R&AW’s involvement in triggering subversive activity in the Baloch region of Pakistan with the help of an undercover naval officer.
Pakistan released an edited video footage in which the officer Kulbhushan Yadav confesses that the acts of espionage were conducted for R&AW.
Pakistan authorities claimed that the ‘spy’ was apprehended on 3 March after he entered the Balochistan region crossing over the Pak-Iran border.
The MEA rejected the allegations levelled by Pakistan and suggested that the officer was ‘possibly’ kidnapped from Iran.
“The government categorically rejects allegations that this individual was involved in subversive activities in Pakistan at our behest. Our enquiries reveal that he apparently was being harassed while operating a legitimate business from Iran. While we probe this aspect further, his presence now in Pakistan raises questions, including the possibility of his abduction from Iran,” MEA said during a press conference.
Yadav who is accused of having carried out subversive activities in Balochistan at India’s behest, used to run a business in the Chabahar port region in Iran.
In the video first released at a press conference by the Inter Services Public Relations of the Pakistani military on Tuesday, Yadav claims that he was a R&AW recruit in Iran and was deployed with an intention to make clandestine movement across the Pakistani border to gather information and to disrupt the Baloch regions. He also claimed that he used to report to the joint secretary of R&AW Anil Gupta.
“That the individual claims to make the statements of his own free will not only challenges credulity but clearly indicates tutoring,” the MEA said. The ministry has also demanded Pakistan to grant consular access to the said detainee. The ministry added that it is necessary to find out how he landed in Pakistan “under unexplained circumstances”.
Meanwhile, critics consider the Pakistani intelligence agency’s revelation a concerted effort to derail the ongoing Pathankot air-base attack probe.
