Islamabad : Some 21 months after he was arrested and repeatedly denied consular access, Pakistan on Friday allowed alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, sentenced to death by a military court, to meet his mother and wife on December 25.
Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal told the media that “complete security will be provided to the visitors and a diplomat from the Indian High Commission will be allowed to accompany them”.
Pakistan had on November 10 granted permission to Jadhav’s wife to visit him “on humanitarian grounds”. New Delhi urged Islamabad to also allow Jadhav’s mother to accompany his wife along with an Indian diplomat.
Faisal said India had been notified of Pakistan’s decision.
Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said: “We are happy to note that Pakistan has also agreed to our request for his mother to meet Jadhav that has been pending since April 2017.
“The Pakistan government has also ensured the well being of the wife and the mother during their stay in Pakistan,” he added.
Earlier, Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted that she had informed Avantika Jadhav, the mother, about Pakistan’s decision to grant her and his wife visa.
Pakistan has so far rejected over 30 Indian requests for consular access to Jadhav.
Islamabad says Jadhav, allegedly an officer with the Indian Navy and attached to the intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), was arrested on March 3, 2016 from Balochistan after he entered Pakistan illegally from Iran.
It said Jadhav had “confessed” in a Pakistani court “that he was tasked by RAW to plan, coordinate and organise espionage, terrorist and sabotage activities aimed at destabilizing and waging war against Pakistan”.
India denies he was a spy and alleged that Jadhav was abducted from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Indian Navy.
Jadhav was sentenced to death on April 10 by a Pakistani military court. On May 18, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Pakistan to halt the execution of Jadhav until a final decision was reached in the proceedings.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was expected to chair a meeting to finalise Islamabad’s submission to the ICJ in Jadhav’s case. December 13 is the deadline for Pakistan to submit its counter-pleadings in the case.
