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Kulbhushan Jadhav is an Indian national who is on the death row in Pakistan. He is accused of carrying out espionage and sabotage activities against Pakistan at the behest of India's intelligence agency. India has denied the allegations.

Pakistan claims the former Indian Navy officer was arrested on March 3, 2016, in Balochistan. The Indian side, however, maintains that he was kidnapped from Iran, where he was running a business in the port city of Chabahar after a “premature retirement” from the Navy.

The execution was stayed by Pakistan after India filed an appeal against the judgment at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on May 18, 2017. The Court pronounced its verdict in the case on July 17, 2019, rejecting India's appeal for Jadhav's release and ordered Pakistan to suspend the execution.

What are the USA and the EU's official position on this guy?

Do they consider this guy as an Indian spy or not? If No, why?

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    I don't think the EU has much of a position. – o.m. Oct 3 '20 at 15:31
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    The US State Department and the White House have declined to make any public statement on the case, though the consensus among non-governmental experts on the region seems to be that Pakistan is exaggerating the case to strike a political posture with India. That being said, I voted to close the question as encouraging opinion-based answers. If neither the USA nor the UK has made a formal public statement no the matter, all that's left is pure speculation. – Ted Wrigley Oct 3 '20 at 15:55
  • @user366312: policy experts don't give opinions based on favoritism (if they did, they wouldn't be considered 'experts' for long). They give opinions based on long study of their region, to give administrations guidance on public policy. In fact, I suspect that policy experts have told the US and UK "whatever the facts of the case, this is political brinksmanship in Pakistan's disputes with India". That alone would convince the US and UK to keep silent, so as not to aggravate tensions in the region. – Ted Wrigley Oct 3 '20 at 16:56
  • @user366312: nobody lobbies policy experts; what would be the point? And as to what reasoning and information the US and UK are using... I have no idea, and neither does anyone else. Mostly I suspect the US and UK don't want to get involved. The life of a single foreign national may have moral implications, but international politics is amoral and pragmatic. This guy is simply not significant enough to the US and UK to rock the boat over. You're not seeing conspiracy; you're seeing studied indifference. I don't approve this message; I just relay it. My apologies for crass human nature... – Ted Wrigley Oct 3 '20 at 17:11
  • @user366312: Why? Every nation runs spy rings; that's hardly news. What political advantage does the US or UK get from talking about it? If there were a political advantage to be had supporting one side or the other, they would take it (even if that meant demanding the freedom of a guilty man, or supporting the execution of an innocent one). The fact they haven't said anything means there's no political advantage to be had. – Ted Wrigley Oct 3 '20 at 17:44
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It seems that neither the European Commission nor the European Council or the Council of the EU nor the European Parliament have any press releases that show up when searching for the name Kulbhushan Jadhav. Thus, the best guess is that none of those agencies have agreed on a common position which may or may not be due to a lack of information or evidence concerning the specific case (I will admit that I had not heard the name prior to reading the question).

To further confirm this hunch, I checked the German Foreign Office’s newsroom which equally turned up no result on this individual’s name.

The above means that there are no official publications to the press or general public concerning this individual (to the best of my knowledge). It is possible that statements are being exchanged on a diplomatic level that the general public is purposely not made aware about. However, it bears mentioning that this is a case of an Indian national who was tried in Pakistan for crimes allegedly committed on Pakistani soil. This is not the type of case that the EU would typically use any political leverage for – especially considering the history between India and Pakistan which the EU is very aware of.

The above notwithstanding, it is a core EU policy to protect and promote basic human rights. The EU considers abolition of the death penalty a cornerstone of basic human rights and has committed itself to promoting abolitionism in all its international relations. This has a direct effect on the individual’s case even if their name is not mentioned specifically.

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