New Delhi: An Indian national arrested on charges of spying in Pakistan's Balochistan Province is a former naval officer and has no connection with the government, the Ministry of External Affairs clarified on Friday after Islamabad raised the issue with New Delhi.
“The said individual has no link with the Government since his premature retirement from Indian Navy. India has no interest in interfering in internal matters of any country and firmly believes that a stable and peaceful Pakistan is in the interest of all in the region,” MEA spokesperson Vikash Swarup said in a statement.
He added that India has meanwhile requested for consular access to the individual.
Pakistan on Friday summoned India High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale in Islamabad to lodge a strong protest over the presence of the alleged “Indian spy in the country”.
It said that it captured the individual in the restive Balochistan province the previous day.
"(Pakistan) conveyed our protest and deep concern on the illegal entry into Pakistan by a RAW officer and his involvement in subversive activities in Baluchistan and Karachi," Pakistan's foreign ministry said in a statement.
RAW or Research and Analysis Wing, is India's main external intelligence agency.
In the past, Pakistan had accused India of supporting insurgency in Balochistan. India has denied any such meddling.
Balochistan's provincial interior minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti on Thursday told reporters the arrest "proved Indian involvement" in his province.
Bugti also claimed to have identified the "Indian official" as Kul Yadav Bhushan and accused him of working for RAW.
He said that Bhushan was in contact with Baloch separatists, fuelling sectarian violence in the province.
