Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told the Senate that Pakistan had followed the laws of the land. Dismissing India's accusations that the sentencing of the Kulbhushan Jadhav was "premeditated murder", he hit out at New Delhi, saying Pakistan followed the due legal process in prosecuting Jadhav. "There was nothing in the [legal] proceedings that was against the law," the minister told lawmakers. "The trial went on for three months."

The Dawn reports that referring to the Indian response to Jadhav's sentencing, Asif said, "They (India) used the term 'premeditated murder'. As a reply, all I want to say is that we have followed all the rules and regulations, and the laws of the land."

"We have done absolutely nothing that's against the rules and regulations but there is premeditated murder going on even today in Kashmir," the defence minister said.

Asif said that Pakistan will not grant any concessions to elements working against the security and the stability of the country, "whether they're operating from inside Pakistan or from outside it".

The defence minister further said that Government of Pakistan is in a position to deal with all such elements "with an iron fist".


Imaging: Dominic Xavier