New York: Pakistan received a proposal to swap Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav for a terrorist who carried out the horrific 2014 Peshawar school attack and is now jailed in Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Khwaja Muhammad Asif has claimed.

Jadhav, a 46-year-old retired Indian Navy officer, was in April sentenced to death by Pakistan’s Field General Court Martial on charges of his alleged “involvement in espionage and sabotage activities” against Pakistan. 

Asif, however, did not specify the name of the terrorist and the National Security Adviser who made the proposal. “The terrorist who killed children in APS (Army Public School) in Peshawar is in Afghan custody. The National Security Adviser (NSA) told me that we can exchange that terrorist with the terrorist you have, which is Kulbhushan Jadhav,” Asif told the audience after his speech at the Asia Society here on Wednesday.

He discussed Pakistan’s vision for and approach towards regional peace and development during his conversion with author and journalist Steve Coll.

Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav on death row in Pakistan

Asif said Pakistan had suffered grievously from conflict and instability in Afghanistan. “Unless this cycle is reversed, we would continue to bear the brunt. No country, therefore, has a larger stake in seeing peace and stability return to Afghanistan than Pakistan. Regrettably, the situation in Afghanistan is getting worse,” he said.

Jadhav, a 46-year-old retired Indian Navy officer, was in April sentenced to death by Pakistan’s Field General Court Martial on charges of his alleged “involvement in espionage and sabotage activities” against Pakistan.