New Delhi: A day after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan admitted that about 30,000-40,000 "armed people" were in the country, India called on Islamabad to take credible and irreversible action against the terror groups.
"It's a glaring admission by the Pakistan leadership. This is not the first time that they have owned up to the presence of militants who are sent to India to create acts of terror. It is in public knowledge," said Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar during his weekly briefing. "Since PM Imran has acknowledged it, it is time for them now to take credible and irreversible action against terror camps."
Khan on Wednesday had said that 30,000-40,000 "armed people", who have been trained and fought in parts of Afghanistan or Kashmir, were in Pakistan and accused the previous governments of not telling the truth to the US about the militant groups operating in the country.
India and Afghanistan accuse Pakistan of providing safe haven to the Afghan Taliban, the Haqqani network, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba and other militant groups, which carry out attacks in the two countries.
Kumar also said India expects to be provided at the earliest full consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav who is in Pakistani captivity.
“We expect full consular access and at the earliest, in full compliance with the order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and under the Vienna convention. We are in touch with Pakistan through diplomatic channels,” he said.
The comments came a week after the ICJ in its verdict directed Pakistan to review the death sentence awarded to Jadhav and grant Delhi consular access to the Indian national.
Jadhav, 49, a retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by the Pakistani military court on charges of "espionage and terrorism" after a closed trial in April 2017.
A bench led by President of the court Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf ordered an "effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence of Mr Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav". It also ruled that Pakistan had violated India's rights to consular visits after Jadhav's arrest.
Kumar also confirmed that he was not aware of any meeting between Jadhav's family and External Affairs minister S Jaishankar.
Pakistan on Thursday said it was working to grant consular access to Jadhav. "We said (earlier) that consular access will be given and (now) work has been started on that," Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal told reporters during his weekly media briefing here.
(With inputs from PTI)
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