Kulbhushan jadhav pak keeps india issue on the boil, wants to shock & awe

Kulbhushan Jadhav: Pak keeps India issue on the boil, wants to shock & awe

The imposition of a death sentence on Kulbhushan Jadhav one year after the former Indian naval officer was captured is the latest in the Pakistani military’s efforts to keep the India-Pakistan issue on the boil.

Whether Jadhav was a deep cover intelligence operative or not is a moot point. A capturing country will likely always make claims about the heinous complicity of a ‘spy’ in fomenting unrest and sabotage, backed by ‘confessions’. Denials by the protesting country – in this case India – about the specious charges levelled on its citizen who has been arrested or kidnapped (depending on which version one accepts) will follow. The key tell is the manner in which Pakistan has chosen to deal with the incident, which has three significant nuances.

First, intelligence gathering is something that all countries and, by extension, their agencies conduct on a regular basis. As exemplified during the Cold War, while the intensity of these operations is highest between warring nations, even allies constantly gather intelligence about each other. ‘Shadow warriors’, as the operatives

are sometimes called, are found in various depths of cover depending on the nature of the objective – which could range from a quick confirmatory mission involving a short ‘tour’ to much longer and deeper operations involving years of planning and recruitment of local assets. The latter is usually meant for strategic objectives such as penetrating the enemy’s security establishments, government or even its intelligence agencies. Such strategic operations involve intricate planning down to the minutest details of building a cover for the agents involved (also known as developing a ‘legend’), to be able to stand the scrutiny of seasoned counter-intelligence.

Jadhav’s Indian ‘cover’ wouldn’t even stand the scrutiny of a corporate background check, let alone Pakistani counter-intelligence. Incomplete addresses in travel documents, travelling into Pakistan using an Indian passport (in the name of ‘Hussein Mubarak Patel’) and so on are neither the hallmarks of a spy, nor of a half decent cover or operating protocols.

Second, the entire proceedings and verdict of the Pakistani field general court martial seems to hinge around the ‘confessions’ of Jadhav. A seasoned interrogation team can get the most stoic prisoner to ‘confess’ to murdering John F. Kennedy, if they wanted to. This is precisely why experienced analysts seldom take admissions given under coercion seriously. The tormented prisoner will say exactly what his captors want to hear. Do recall that this is where the US’s obsession with Iraqi ‘weapons of mass destruction’ began.

Also, the Pakistani military court knows that any proceedings that are in violation of proper process will not stand scrutiny of their own human rights activists, never mind international opinion. Disallowing Jadhav consular access or the right to legal aid are but some of the violations in this case.

Finally, even if Pakistan had indeed captured a genuine intelligence operative, it would be a routine affair. There are scores of intelligence operatives from dozens of countries operating in almost every significant nation. Just six years ago, Raymond Davis, a former American soldier operating with the CIA, shot dead two Pakistani nationals in Lahore, even as he was being ‘tailed’ by the ISI – and Pakistan settled for a couple of million dollars to release him. Similarly, exchanging captured spies is fairly routine and while intelligence operatives know that third degree interrogation is an occupational hazard, it is extremely rare that captured operatives are executed in a public manner.(READ MORE)

ARTICLE SOURCE – BUSINESS STANDARD