Kulbhushan Jadhav’s Meeting With Wife, Mother Ends

Mangalore Today News Network

Dec 25 2017: Kulbhushan Jadhav’s met his wife and mother from behind a glass screen for around 30 to 40 minutes .

 

Jadhav’s family members arrived at the Pakistan Foreign Affairs Ministry in Islamabad on Monday, 25 December to meet the Indian prisoner on death row. The duo visited the Indian High Commission before going to the venue of the meeting.

The duration of the meeting has not been confirmed but it may last for an hour, according to sources in the Foreign Office.

The Pakistan Foreign Office said the duo travelled to Islamabad by a commercial flight, and will leave the same day after after spending barely seven hours in the country

Sharpshooters Deployed at Meeting Venue

Pakistani authorities said they have deployed sharpshooters at the foreign ministry’s office where Jadhav will meet his family.

Roads leading to the Constitution Avenue, on which MOFA is located, have been closed for traffic. Special security passes have been issued for those visiting the Foreign Office, the officials added.
Jadhav Not Granted Consular Access

Jadhav has not been granted consular access, Pakistan media clarified quoting the Foreign Office. Earlier, it was reported that Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif had told Pakistan’s Geo News that he had been granted consular access.

Pakistan has repeatedly denied India consular access to Jadhav on the grounds that it was not applicable in cases related to spies.

However, India’s Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh will accompany Jadhav’s mother and wife to the meeting.

Separately, Faisal added that the meeting would take place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and photos and video footage would be issued. Jadhav’s mother and wife were being provided a meeting with him in the light of “Islamic traditions and based on purely humanitarian grounds,” he had said.
Conflicting Claims

Pakistan on 20 December had issued visas to Jadhav’s wife and mother to visit Islamabad to meet him. Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April, following which India moved the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in May. The ICJ halted his execution on India’s appeal pending the final verdict by it.

    The country alleges that Jadhav is “not an ordinary person” as he had entered the country with the intent of “spying and carrying out sabotage activities”.

Pakistan claims its security forces arrested Jadhav alias Hussein Mubarak Patel from its restive Balochistan province on 3 March 2016, after he reportedly entered from Iran.

India, however, maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Indian Navy.

(With inputs from PTI)