India has responded to Pakistan’s proposal allowing former Indian naval official Kulbhushan Jadhav to meet his wife on humanitarian grounds, a senior MEA official confirmed on Saturday.
The confirmation of the Indian response came hours after Pakistan announced the receipt of the Indian letter, even as both sides prepared for the next date of the case in December at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
ADVERTISEMENT
Response to offer
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
“We can confirm that the letter carrying our response to the Pakistani offer on the humanitarian gesture to Kulbhushan Jadhav has been sent. It is a sensitive matter for the family and the two countries,” said the official, explaining that India has taken note of the fact that Pakistan has kept the content of the letter confidential and so far has not revealed it to the media on the Pakistani side.
Spokesperson for Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Faisal said at his weekly news briefing that India had responded to the Pakistani humanitarian proposal on allowing
He also said Islamabad was “considering” India’s request to let Kulbhushan Jadhav’s mother meet him, apart from his wife.
ADVERTISEMENT
The proposal came in the backdrop of humanitarian moves regarding prisoners in each other’s custody that were undertaken recently.
The Pakistani offer came months after MEA had asked for a meeting between Mr. Jadhav and his mother in Pakistan. Though diplomats on both sides are tight-lipped about the way ahead, unconfirmed reports have indicated that both sides have begun to discuss the modalities and venue of the meeting. Reports also suggest that India might want Mr. Jadhav’s mother also to travel along with his wife.
The timing of the humanitarian gesture is significant as it comes weeks before the International Court of Justice takes up the case once again. As per the decision of the court, the case will come up on December 13, which was the deadline set for Pakistan to file the counter-Memorial.
( With inputs from PTI )