Sushma Swaraj to make statement on Kulsbhushan Jadhav issue tomorrow

"Tomorrow I will be making a statement in the House on this issue," Swaraj told the Lok Sabha.

Earlier, Lok Sabha MPs asked External Affairs Minister to make a statement on this issue and shouted slogans in support of their demand.

Condemning the way Pakistan treated Jadhav's  mother and wife, who had gone to a Pakistan jail to meet him, Congress leader  Mallikarjun Kharge said, "we should fight for the return of Kulbhushan Jadhav to India."

Shiv Sena's Arvind Sawant said, "Pakistan was unfair to Kulbhushan Jadhav's family...Until Jadhav returns to India, this country should not remain in peace."

India has  denounced Pakistan over the treatment of the family of  Jadhav, sentenced to death by a Pakistan court  for  alleged spying, saying they had been harassed during a visit.

The Indian Government has accused Pakistani authorities of, among other things, refusing to return the shoes of the visiting wife of  Jadhav after she turned them over to security for the visit.

India said the meeting between Jadhav and his wife and mother in the jail was held in an “intimidating atmosphere” and questioned why the shoes of his wife were kept back even after the meeting.

Raveesh Kumar, the official spokesperson for the ministry of external affairs (MEA), said  “under the pretext of security precautions, the cultural and religious sensibilities of family members were disregarded” and this “included removal of mangal sutra, bangles and bindi, as well as a change in attire that was not warranted by security.

For some inexplicable reason, despite her repeated requests, the shoes of the wife of Jadhav were not returned to her after the meeting, Kumar said.

"The Pakistani press was allowed on multiple occasions to approach family members closely, harass and hector them, and hurl false and loaded accusations about Jadhav," Kumar said.

Jadhav, a former officer in the Indian Navy, was arrested in March 2016 in the Pakistani province of Baluchistan, where there has been a long-running conflict between security forces and separatists, and he was convicted of planning sabotage.

His wife and mother were allowed to see him behind a glass window on December 25, eight months after he was sentenced to death.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said it "categorically rejected" the accusations as "baseless" and called Jadhav "a convicted terrorist and spy, who has confessed to his crimes."

But New Delhi maintains Jadhav is innocent, and it won an injunction from the World Court to delay his execution, arguing he was denied diplomatic assistance during his trial by a military court.