ISLAMABAD: Days after Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif took up with visiting Iranian President Hasan Rouhani the issue of alleged use of Iranian soil by India’s RAW to stoke instability in Balochistan and Karachi, Islamabad on Thursday formally sent a reference requesting Tehran to investigate and share details of the activities of Kulbhushan Jadhav & Co in Iran.
It was for the first time that Pakistan has arrested a serving officer of the Indian security forces working for RAW inside its territory. In past, Pakistan did arrest many an operative of the RAW but never ever a serving officer of the rank of a lieutenant colonel had been nabbed. Kulbhushan Yadav is said to be originally from Indian Navy in which he served as a commissioned officer. He is claimed to have entered Pakistan via Iran and is also reportedly having a valid Iranian visa. In Pakistan, he operated under fake identities and is alleged to have been working with separatist and sectarian organisations in Balochistan.
The government has also asked the neighboring country to arrest and hand over Sub Inspector Rakesh alias Rizwan, who is known to be a key RAW operative assisting Kulbhushan Yadav.
Islamabad, in a letter addressed to Iranian Ambassador in Islamabad Mehdi Honardoost, has asked Tehran to:
* Immediately arrest and hand over an individual identified as Rakesh, alias Rizwan, for interrogation
* Verify activities of Kulbhushan Jadhav along with records of visits to Iran
* Provide a record of his stay in Iran including cities visited and the duration of these visits
* Provide a record of people he interacted with and purpose of these interactions
* Share details of RAW networks on Iranian soil
* Share any other details related to the above
Pakistan “expects Iran to seriously look at Islamabad’s assertions and take every step to stem incursion of Indian spies into Pakistani territory”, says the letter issued with the signatures of Federal Interior Secretary Arif Ahmed Khan. “Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan raised the issue of Indian saboteurs using Iranian soil with visiting Iranian dignitaries,” the letter said.
“Jadhav was covertly based in Chabahar, Iran, under the pretext of being a jeweller/businessman. He had an Iranian visa along with an Indian passport. He was assisted by RAW Sub Inspector Rakesh, alias Rizwan, a key operative who was also working undercover as a businessman dealing in jewellery,” it said, and added, “And he crossed over to Balochistan’s Mashkhel area from Saravan, Iran.” “Jadhav’s mission included spying and sabotage, in addition to fomenting insecurity and instability in the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan,” the letter said, and added that Iran’s cooperation in this regard will not only improve relations between the two countries but also help reduce terrorism and unrest in the region. “Pakistan has persistently maintained that the Indian state is sponsoring terrorism, sabotage and subversion in the country. The government has presented dossiers of such evidence to the United Nations on Indian involvement in Balochistan. However, this evidence has been overlooked as the world body has paid no attention to it.”