India fumes as Pakistan forced mother & wife of Kulbhushan Jadhav to remove mangal sutra, bindi

NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday hit back at Pakistan, accusing it of violating mutual understanding on Kulbhushan Jadhav’s meeting with his family, and said the Indian national appeared coerced and under considerable stress during the tightly-controlled interaction.

Pakistan went so far as to have the mangal sutra, bangles and bindi of his mother and wife removed before they could meet him, the external affairs ministry said in a statement.

Also, most of Jadhav’s remarks were clearly tutored and designed “to perpetuate the false narrative” of his alleged spying in Pakistan, it said in a no-holds-barred statement against Islamabad’s conduct.


Summing up its anger, India said the manner in which Pakistan conducted Jadhav’s meeting with his family violated the letter and spirit of understanding that the two countries had.

Countering Pakistan’s contention that the meeting was a humanitarian concession, India’s statement said “this exercise lacked any credibility.”

“From the feedback we have received of the meeting, it appears that Jadhav was under considerable stress and speaking in an atmosphere of coercion,” the MEA statement said. “We also regret that contrary to assurances, the overall atmosphere of the meeting was intimidating insofar as family members were concerned,” it said.

Family members, however, handled the situation with “great courage and fortitude”, the ministry said.