Army veterans protest near Pak High Commission against Jadhav's sentence

A group of army veterans on Wednesday staged a protest near the Pakistan High Commission against the death sentence awarded to former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav.

The protesters were led by Delhi Assembly legislator Col (retd) Devinder Sehrawat. They also handed over a memorandum to the authorities at the Pakistan High Commission in Chanakyapuri.

"We urged the Pakistan High Commissioner to communicate the outrage over the unacceptable treatment meted out to Jadhav," Sehrawat said.

"Pakistan is creating problems for itself and will have to payback if it continued with such actions. We request the country to take the case of Jadhav seriously and think over continuing any relationship with Pakistan," he said.

Nearly two dozen ex-servicemen, including Col (retd) Ravi Tokas and Col (retd) KPS Rana, took part in the protest.

India has warned Pakistan to consider the "consequences" on bilateral ties if Jadhav is hanged in the alleged espionage case and vowed to go "out of the way" to save him amid an outrage throughout the country.

Jadhav was "arrested" on March 3 last year by Pakistani security forces in the restive Balochistan province after he reportedly entered from Iran. Pakistan has alleged that Jadhav was "a serving officer" in the Indian Navy and deputed to the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW).

The Pakistan Army had released a "confessional video" of Jadhav after his arrest.

India has acknowledged that Jadhav served with the navy but denied he has any connection with the government.