ISLAMABAD: The wife and mother of an Indian naval officer held in custody by security agencies in Islamabad on charges of “espionage, terrorism and subversive activities against Pakistan” met Commander Kulbushan Jadhav amid tight security at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday. Pakistan called the meeting “historic.”
“For a serving (Indian) officer, yes, it’s the first time,” said Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammed Faisal to Arab News.
Another official said: “This is historic because we don’t do this for spies. We want to show that Pakistan wants peace.”
Faisal expressed that it was a huge gesture from Pakistan to allow a convicted foreign intelligence agent who has confessed to his activities harming Pakistanis for the state to permit a meeting “on humanitarian grounds.” He added that Pakistan wants to show that it has nothing to hide; therefore, it gave the media access to the meeting but said that New Delhi decided not to engage the press and barred the women from speaking to reporters.
Jadhav’s mother Avanti was dressed in a saree, the traditional garment for Indian women and her daughter-in-law Chetankul wore the subcontinental shalwar kameez. They arrived at the Foreign Office building at 1:25 p.m., accompanied by Indian Deputy High Commissioner J.P. Singh.
Several dozen cameras were trained on the two women as they stepped out of the vehicle. Reporters shouted questions as the women and the Indian diplomat were escorted into the building by Pakistani officials. Avanti turned to the media, raised both hands together but made no further response.
In photos of the private meeting which were provided by Pakistani officials to the media, Jadhav sat behind a thick glass window in a small room, wearing a formal jacket. He spoke to his mother and wife over a speaker phone with the handset tightly secured with tape.
The two women sat across, supervised by at least two Pakistani officials. On their table were a clock, tissue box, and a telephone handset on which they communicated with Jadhav as video cameras recorded the conversation and CCTV monitored the meeting.
Jadhav and his mother seemed composed but a photo taken from behind the ladies had a reflection of a distraught Chetankul trying to contain her emotions upon seeing her husband. The meeting time was extended to 40 minutes at the request of Jadhav, said a Foreign Office spokesperson.
The women to whom Pakistan granted a three-day visit visa arrived in the morning on a Middle Eastern airline since there are no direct flights between New Delhi and Islamabad. Both groups had to meet the time frame in order to accommodate the arrangements. According to reports, Avanti and Chetankul walked out of the ministry building at 3:20 p.m. with Singh and were taken to the Indian High Commission before flying out of the country in the evening.
Faisal, in briefing the media, said that the deputy high commissioner was not allowed to meet and interact with the imprisoned Indian. He said the diplomat was allowed only to be present, adding that Pakistan had fulfilled its commitment.
The spokesperson declined to disclose the subjects discussed at the meeting but said it was positive and the women did not appeal for mercy. However, this is not the last meeting Pakistan will facilitate for the spy, Faisal emphasized in response to a question.
At the briefing, ministry officials played a video of Jadhav’s taped confession. They claimed he created an undercover identity as Hussain Mubarak Patel to move the agenda of the Indian intelligence agency RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) and fuel unrest in Baluchistan and Karachi.
Jadhav’s arrest has further escalated tensions between both nuclear-armed neighbors. Bilateral dialogue remains suspended though Pakistan has signaled its desire to hold talks with India on a number of issues, especially Kashmir.
Pakistan has rejected using the Indian spy as leverage to force India to the negotiating table and meet its demands. Former Pakistani diplomat, Aziz Ahmed Khan, told Arab News: “In the absence of a dialogue process, Pakistan can only wait and see when the Indian side will realize the futility of not talking.”
When asked if either country has adopted a back-track diplomacy strategy to salvage the soured relations, he answered: “I don’t think there is any back channel between the countries.”
On the other hand, Javed Hafiz, a former Pakistani ambassador, said Pakistan had often resorted to back channel diplomacy which at times have been facilitated by a third party (country).
Speaking to Arab News, he is of the view that both countries need to work on opening channels of communication in order to avoid risking a damaging confrontation.
“Indo-Pak relations have seen several tense periods. In such situations, some communication is better than no communication at all.”
Pakistan allows convicted Indian spy to meet family in rare move
Pakistan allows convicted Indian spy to meet family in rare move
Trial opens into UK stabbing spree that sparked riots over misinformation attacker was Muslim
- Authorities blame far-right agitators for violence, including by sharing misinformation alleged attacker was Muslim asylum seeker
- Unrest, which lasted several days, saw far-right rioters attack police, shops, hotels housing asylum seekers and mosques
LONDON: The trial of a teenager accused of killing three young girls in a stabbing spree last year that sparked the UK’s most violent riots in a decade is set to begin Monday.
Axel Rudakubana, 18, is due to stand trial at Liverpool Crown Court, accused of murdering three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class last year in Southport, northwest England.
Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, were killed in the attack in the seaside resort near Liverpool on July 29, 2024.
Ten others were injured, including eight children, in one of the country’s worst mass stabbings in years.
Rudakubana faces a total of 16 charges, including three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and one count of possessing a blade days after the attack.
The trial is expected to last four weeks after pleas of not guilty were entered on his behalf.
The stabbings sent shock waves across the UK, triggering unrest and riots in more than a dozen English and Northern Irish towns and cities, including in Southport and Liverpool.
Authorities blamed far-right agitators for fueling violence, including by sharing misinformation claiming the alleged attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker.
The unrest, which lasted several days, saw far-right rioters attack police, shops, hotels housing asylum seekers and mosques, with hundreds of participants subsequently arrested and charged.
Rudakubana was born in Wales to parents of Rwandan origin and lived in Banks, a village northeast of Southport.
Despite being 17 years old at the time, restrictions on reporting Rudakubana’s name were lifted in August due to concerns over the spread of misinformation.
“Continuing to prevent the full reporting has the disadvantage of allowing others to spread misinformation, in a vacuum,” judge Andrew Menary said as he lifted the restrictions.
Taylor Swift, then in the middle of her Eras tour, wrote on Instagram that she “was completely in shock” the day after the attack on the dance class at the start of the school holidays.
The pop star reportedly met two of the survivors of the attack during her August shows in London.
The UK’s head of state King Charles III also traveled to Southport in August to meet with survivors, inspecting a sea of floral tributes laid outside the city’s town hall.
And Catherine, Princess of Wales, and Prince William visited Southport in October “to show support to the local community,” Kensington Palace said. It was their first joint public engagement since Kate ended a course of chemotherapy for cancer.
In October, the suspect was charged with two additional offenses in relation to evidence obtained “during searches of Axel Rudakubana’s home address” following the attack, the Crown Prosecution Services (CPS), which brings public prosecutions, said.
The charges were for the “production of a biological toxin, namely ricin,” and “possessing information ... likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.”
The terrorism offense related to suspicion of possessing an Al-Qaeda training manual, although the attack was not treated as a terrorist incident.
Following speculation on social media related to policing decisions in the case, Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said she realized the added charges could trigger fresh rumors.
“We would strongly advise caution against anyone speculating as to motivation in this case,” Kennedy was quoted as saying.
She urged people to be patient and “don’t believe everything you read on social media.”
Rudakubana has appeared in several hearings since the attack, often wearing a grey sweatshirt, and refusing to speak in all of them.
In the last hearing in December, he appeared via videolink at Liverpool Crown Court from high-security Belmarsh prison, in southeast London.
The Attorney General and Merseyside police have warned the press and public against publishing any material that risks prejudicing the trial.
Russia says captured two more villages in east Ukraine
MOSCOW: Russian forces have captured two more villages in east Ukraine, including one just a few kilometers from Pokrovsk, a key supply hub for Kyiv’s forces, the defense ministry said Monday.
Army units “liberated” Shevchenko and Novoyegorivka in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk respectively, it said. Shevchenko is around three kilometers (two miles) from Pokrovsk.
Indian police volunteer gets life sentence for rape, murder of Kolkata junior doctor
- Sanjay Roy was convicted by judge Anirban Das on Saturday who said circumstantial evidence had proved the charges against him
- The sentence was announced in a packed courtroom as the judge allowed the public to witness proceedings on Monday
KOLKATA: An Indian court awarded the life sentence on Monday to a police volunteer convicted of the rape and murder of a junior doctor at the hospital where she worked in the eastern city of Kolkata.
The woman’s body was found in a classroom at the state-run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital on Aug. 9. Other doctors stayed off work for weeks to demand justice for her and better security at public hospitals, as the crime sparked national outrage over a lack of safety for women.
Sanjay Roy, the police volunteer, was convicted by judge Anirban Das on Saturday who said circumstantial evidence had proved the charges against Roy.
Roy said he was innocent and that he had been framed, and sought clemency.
The federal police, who investigated the case, said the crime belonged to the “rarest-of-rare” category and Roy, therefore, deserved the death penalty.
Judge Das said it was not a “rarest-of-rare” crime, adding that Roy could go in appeal to a higher court.
The sentence was announced in a packed courtroom as the judge allowed the public to witness proceedings on Monday. The speedy trial in the court was not open to the public.
The parents of the junior doctor were among those in court on Monday. Security was stepped up with dozens of police personnel deployed at the court complex.
Myanmar military, minority armed group agree ceasefire, China says
- The two sides held talks in China’s southwestern city of Kunming
- Analysts say China is worried about the advance of anti-junta forces
BEIJING: The Myanmar military and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) signed a formal agreement for a ceasefire that began on Saturday, China’s foreign ministry said, halting fighting near the border of both countries.
The two sides held talks in China’s southwestern city of Kunming where they thanked Beijing for its efforts to promote peace, ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said during a regular news briefing on Monday.
“Cooling down the situation in the north of Myanmar is in the common interest of all parties in Myanmar and all countries in the region, and contributes to the security, stability and development of the border areas between China and Myanmar,” she said.
China will continue to actively promote peace and dialogue and provide support and assistance to the peace process in northern Myanmar, Mao said.
The MNDAA is one of several ethnic minority armed groups fighting to repel the military from what they consider their territories.
It is part of the so-called Three Brotherhood Alliance, with the Ta’ang National Liberation Army and the Arakan Army, that launched an offensive against the military junta in late October 2023 seizing swathes of territory near the border with China.
The MNDAA, made up of ethnic Chinese, said last July it had taken control of a major military base near the Chinese border.
Analysts say China is worried about the advance of anti-junta forces which have pushed the military out of vital borderlands and started making inroads toward the central city of Mandalay.
The military seized power from Myanmar’s civilian government in February 2021, plunging the country into crisis.
China fears chaos along its more than 2,000 kilometer long border with Myanmar would jeopardize investment and trade.
Beijing previously brokered a ceasefire deal in the northern borderlands in January 2024, but the deal broke down a few months later.
France to keep fighting for release of French-Israeli hostages, says foreign minister
PARIS: France will keep fighting to obtain the release of the two French-Israeli nationals held by Hamas, foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot told BFM TV on Monday.
“We will continue to fight until the last hour for their release,” Barrot told BFM TV, adding France had “no news on their health status nor on the terms of their detention.”
Hamas released three Israeli hostages and Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners on Sunday, on the first day of a ceasefire suspending a 15-month-old war that has devastated the Gaza Strip and inflamed the Middle East.
French-Israeli nationals Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi are expected to be on the list of 33 hostages to be released in the first phase of the draft Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal.
