Pakistan on Friday said that it will allow the wife and mother of alleged Indian spy, Kulbhushan Jadhav, to meet him on humanitarian grounds on December 25.
It allowed them to be accompanied by an Indian embassy official as requested by New Delhi.
Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal told a media briefing that Islamabad had earlier offered to allow Mr. Jadhav’s wife to meet him last month.
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But New Delhi requested that his mother and an Indian embassy official also be permitted to travel with her, and Pakistan conceded both pleas. Mr. Jadhav, who India claims was a former Navy official, was apprehended by Pakistan law enforcement agencies on March 3, 2016, after he allegedly crossed over. Mr. Jadhav, who was produced before the media in Pakistan in March 2016, was accused of sabotage and terrorism against the coastal cities of Pakistan.
After a swift and controversial trial by a Pakistani military tribunal, he was awarded the death sentence on April 10.
His clemency appeal is pending with Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa for the past four months. Pakistani officials said there were still two forums of appeal left even if the Army chief rejects his mercy plea.
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India went to the International Court of Justice against the conviction, and secured a stay on May 18.
“We received the response from the Pakistani government to the request made by India on November 13, 2017 to allow both mother and wife of Mr. Jadhav to meet him,” said Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar in New Delhi.
Officials described the Pakistani move which comes a week before the next hearing of the case at The Hague’s International Court of Justice, as “positive and humanitarian.”
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj took to social media to announce the development.
She said, “Government of Pakistan has conveyed that they will give visa to the mother and wife of Kulbhushan Jadhav. Earlier Pakistan had given visa only to the wife. On this, we asked Pakistan to give visa to the mother as well. We also raised concern about their safety and security in Pakistan.”
Ms. Swaraj said that she conveyed the Pakistani decision to Mrs. Avantika Jadhav, the mother.
Consular access
Officials said that they are not considering the “purely humanitarian” gesture as equivalent to granting of consular access that India has been demanding from the moment Mr. Jadhav was produced before the Pakistani media.
( With inputs from Kallol Bhattacherjee in New Delhi )