The wife and the mother of Kulbhushan Jadhav, a prisoner on death row for alleged espionage, will meet him here on Monday, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said.
They will arrive here by a commercial flight and leave the same day after the meeting, it said. India’s Deputy High Commissioner J.P. Singh will accompany them to the meeting.
“India informs that the mother and wife of Commander Jadhav will arrive by a commercial flight on 25 Dec and leave the same day. Indian DHC [Deputy High Commissioner] in Islamabad will be the accompanying diplomat,” Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal tweeted on Saturday night. Earlier, media reports said Pakistan had asked India to convey the plan of Jadhav’s family at the earliest. Separately, Mr. Faisal said the meeting would take place at the Ministry and its photo and video footage would be released. They were allowed the meeting in light of “Islamic traditions and on humanitarian grounds,” he said.
On December 20, Pakistan gave visas to Jadhav’s wife and mother .
Jadhav, 47, was sentenced to death by a military court in April on the charges of espionage and terrorism. Thereafter, India moved the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in May. The ICJ halted the execution, pending its verdict.
Pakistan denied India consular access to Jadhav saying it was not applicable in the cases of espionage. It said Jadhav was not an ordinary person as he entered the country for spying and sabotage. Pakistan says its security forces arrested Jadhav, alias Hussein Mubarak Patel, from its restive Balochistan province on March 3 last year after he entered the country from Iran. India, however, maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Navy.
