New Delhi: Keeping its options open for a case-by-case basis, the Government has, quite interestingly, not declared openly that it will freeze bilateral exchanges with Pakistan although this is precisely what is being done for the moment. Asked about whether there was a freeze on bilateral exchanges with Pakistan, a senior Government source on Sunday said he had “no information” in this regard.
This comes even as New Delhi is awaiting the Pakistani response to its fourteenth request for consular access to Indian former naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav who was sentenced to death recently by a Pakistani military court.
Curiously, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) has maintained a studied silence and refused to either react or issue a statement after New Delhi called off a three-day conference between the Indian Coast Guard and Pakistan’s Maritime Security Agency that scheduled from April 16 to 19. The Coast Guard functions under the purview of the ministry of defence.
Government sources also said on Sunday there was no scheduled meeting between senior officials of the two countries on the Indus Water Treaty issue in Washington this month and hence there was no question of any cancellation.
Meanwhile, sources said on Sunday that New Delhi is yet to get a response from Islamabad on its demand for a certified copy of the chargesheet as well as the military court order awarding death sentence to Jadhav. Government sources said. India had already announced that it would appeal against the death sentence to Jadhav.
