Pak agrees to let wife, mother meet Jadhav

Pakistan on Friday accepted India’s request to allow Kulbhushan Jadhav’s mother and his wife to meet him in a Pakistani jail. Pakistan agreed that the duo will be accompanied by an Indian diplomat and assured to provide them safety and security.

India has termed the move a positive development. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the Government will now work out a “convenient” date for the visit after speaking to Jadhav’s family. However, Pakistani Foreign Office has scheduled the meeting for December 25.

“On purely humanitarian grounds and Indian request, Pakistan has allowed the visit of the wife of Commander Jadhav, accompanied by her mother-in-law on December 25,” Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said while making the announcement in Islamabad.

MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said this was good news for India, which has been seeking access to Jadhav for a long time. However, sources said the presence of the diplomat during the meeting between Jadhav, his wife and mother cannot be construed as “Consular Access” and India will continue to fight the case in International Court of Justice (ICJ) on this issue.

“Earlier today, 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. We are happy to note that Pakistan has also agreed to our request for mother to meet

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Pak agrees to let wife, mother

meet Jadhav

 Mr Jadhav that has been pending since April 2017. The Pakistan Government has also assured that it would ensure safety, security and well being of the wife and the mother during their stay in Pakistan and to allow a diplomat to accompany them. In consultation with the mother and the wife of Mr Jadhav, we will work out the further modalities of the meeting,” Raveesh said.

He added External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had also spoken to the Avantika Jadhav, mother of Kulbhushan Jadhav, an ex-Indian Navy official facing languishing in Pakistan jail on charges of espionage and spying. Swaraj had in April this year written to her Pakistani counterpart Sartaz Aziz requesting visa for Jadhav’s mother to meet him.

“Government of Pakistan has conveyed that they will give visa to the mother and wife of Kulbhushan Jadhav. I have spoken to Mrs. Avantika Jadhav mother of Kulbhushan Jadhav and informed her about this. Earlier Pakistan had agreed to give visa only to the wife of Kulbhushan Jadhav. On this we asked Pakistan to give visa to the mother as well. We also raised concern about their safety and security in Pakistan. We had also asked that a diplomatic officer of Indian High Commission should accompany them while they are in Pakistan. Pakistan has agreed to facilitate the visit of mother and wife of Kulbhushan Jadhav and assured us of their safety, security and freedom of movement in Pakistan,” Swaraj said.

Pak claims Jadhav is an agent of Indian spy agency RAW while India has denied this and said he was kidnapped from Iran by Pak agencies. Jadhav is facing death sentence awarded by a Pak military court which has been stayed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) following India’s petition to the top court on the grounds that Jadhav was denied Consular Access despite several requests from India. Pakistan is supposed to submit its memorial (post hearing briefs) on December 13 in response to India’s application. In such a situation, the decision to allow a meeting between Jadhav, his mother and wife is seen as an effort to weaken India’s case in the ICJ.