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           Pakistan Asks Tehran for Details About Alleged Indian Spy

   by Noor Zahid

   Pakistani authorities asked Iran to investigate a suspected Indian spy
   arrested last month in Baluchistan.

   Pakistan's Interior Ministry sent a communique to the Iranian Embassy
   in Islamabad accusing Kulbhushan Jadhav of involvement in an Indian spy
   network and saying he was planning subversive activities against the
   recently launched multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
   He had allegedly been living in Chabahar, an Iranian port on the Gulf
   of Oman, west of Pakistan, before illegally entering Baluchistan.

   Reuters reported that Pakistan's government aired video footage this
   week of Jadhav saying he set up an office in Chabahar and later worked
   for the Indian spy agency. It was unclear whether he made the comments
   freely.

   India has confirmed that Jadhav is a former Indian navy officer, but
   denied he is a spy and said he had taken early retirement from the
   military.

   Iranian authorities have not publicly commented on the allegations, but
   the embassy in Islamabad released a statement criticizing Pakistani
   media outlets for their reporting of the case.

   "During the past few days, some sections of the Pakistani media have
   spread content regarding the detention of an Indian agent and the
   matter related to it, which could have negative implications on the
   fraternal and friendly atmosphere of Iran and Pakistan," a statement by
   the Iranian Embassy said.

   Pakistan, Iran pacts

   News of the spy came after a two-day visit last month to Islamabad by
   Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who signed a number of pacts to
   further economic ties with Pakistan.

   Pakistani media reported that officials discussed India's alleged
   spying activities with Rouhani. Iranian media said the matter was not
   discussed.

   Although ties between Iran and Pakistan have been relatively distant
   with brief periods of economic cooperation, Iran's recent expansion of
   economic and trade ties with India has drawn attention in Islamabad.

   Analysts say that India's recent investments in the Chabahar port
   project are seen as a countereffort by India to sabotage the
   China-Pakistan economic corridor project, by providing an alternate
   route that would bypass Pakistan.

   Analyst Saeed Nazir of the Islamabad-based Institute of Policy Studies
   says that India has invested around $150 million in Chabahar and wants
   to create an economic route to Afghanistan and Central Asian countries.

   There has been little trade between India and landlocked Afghanistan,
   in part because Pakistan has been reluctant to allow goods to be
   transported between the two countries.
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   indian-spy/3265777.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/pakistan-asks-tehran-details-alleged-indian-spy/3265777.html