Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is on death row in Pakistan for alleged spying, today met his wife and mother\u2014but separated by a glass screen\u2014in a carefully choreographed event that unfolded in tweets, photos and TV footage.<\/p>\n
The 40-minute meeting, which took place after many representations, took place at the heavily guarded Foreign Affairs Ministry building, and came after the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) asked Pakistan in May to stay 47-year-old Jadhav\u2019s execution.<\/p>\n
The Foreign Office also issued a new video message of Jadhav in which he is seen thanking the Pakistan government for arranging a meeting with his wife and mother.<\/p>\n
It was the first time that Jadhav was meeting his family since his arrest in March, and Pakistan portrayed it as a humanitarian gesture to mark the birthday of the country\u2019s founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah.<\/p>\n
\u201cPakistan permits the meeting of wife and mother of Commander Jadhav with him, as a humanitarian gesture, on the birthday of the Father of the nation, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah,\u201d Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal tweeted.<\/p>\n
The tweet made it a point to identify Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer, with his military title. Pakistan claims its security forces arrested Jadhav from its restive Balochistan province after he reportedly entered from Iran. It claims that he was in possession of an Indian passport that identified him as Hussein Mubarak Patel.<\/p>\n
India, however, maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Indian Navy.<\/p>\n
Faisal also tweeted that the meeting was arranged in light of \u201cIslamic traditions and based on purely humanitarian grounds.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pakistan Foreign Office later released pictures of Jadhav talking to his wife and mother from behind a glass screen. The communication between them was through a intercom device. The meeting started at around 1.35 pm local time(2.05 pm IST) and lasted about 40 minutes, after which Jadhav\u2019s wife and mother were driven away in a white SUV.<\/p>\n
The two women had arrived in Islamabad earlier today via Dubai on a commercial flight, and spent about 30 minutes at the Indian High Commission before being driven to the Foreign Ministry. Jadhav\u2019s family had a brief stop at the mission again before they headed to the airport to catch a flight to India via Dubai.<\/p>\n
Before the meeting, the security check of the family was conducted.<\/p>\n
All the information about the meeting emerged through Pakistani Foreign Ministry tweets and images.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe mother and wife of Commander Jadhav sitting comfortably in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pakistan. We honour our commitments,\u201d spokesman Faisal earlier tweeted along with a picture of the visitors.<\/p>\n
From Pakistan\u2019s side, Foreign Office Director for India, Dr Fareha Bugti, was present at the meeting. The wife and mother greeted media persons with a namaste after arriving at the ministry but did not respond to their questions.<\/p>\n
They also did not talk to the reporters while leaving the building, although journalists kept shouting questions. Faisal briefed the media after the meeting of Jadhav with his mother and wife in the presence of diplomat J P Singh, which he said did not constitute \u201cconsular access\u201d. He also repeated Pakistan\u2019s old allegations against the Indian prisoner.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis meeting was not consular access as we had told India that its diplomat would see the meeting but was not allowed to speak or participate in it,\u201d Faisal said.<\/p>\n
JP Singh, who accompanied the visitors, was not allowed to speak or listen and he knew it, Faisal added.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll decisions on consular access will be taken on the basis of law and interests of Pakistan,\u201d Faisal said in response to a question about granting the consular access. Pakistan has repeatedly denied India consular access to Jadhav on the ground that it was not applicable in cases related to spies.<\/p>\n
Faisal said that the meeting was positive and the two sides talked thoroughly. \u201cIt is not the last meeting. It should be categorically registered,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The video of Jadhav played during the press conference was recorded before his meeting with his family, officials said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI requested a meeting with my wife and mother and I am thankful to Government of Pakistan for this gesture,\u201d Jadhav said in the brief video message.<\/p>\n
Jadhav was at the ministry before his family arrived. It was not known where he had been kept before being transported to the Foreign Ministry.<\/p>\n
Police and paramilitary security forces, including sharpshooters, were deployed at the ministry to deal with any untoward security situation, officials said.<\/p>\n
Pakistan on December 20 issued visa to Jadhav\u2019s wife and mother to visit Islamabad to meet him.
\nJadhav was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April, following which India moved the ICJ in May. It is expected to hold another hearing in March or April.<\/p>\n
Earlier today, Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told a Pakistani media channel that Pakistan has granted India consular access to Jadhav since an Indian diplomat will be accompanying the prisoner\u2019s wife and mother.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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