The Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammed Faisal today at a press meet termed the Jadhav family meet as "Not the last".
"Not the last meeting" the Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammed Faisal today said, while addressing the media after Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav met his wife and mother.
"This is not the last meeting. Let me say it categorically," Faisal told reporters after former Indian Navy officer Jadhav's wife Chetankul and mother Avanti met him for the first time after his detention in March 2016. Jadhav met his wife and mother at the Pakistan Foreign Affairs Ministry in Islamabad for around 40 minutes, but interacted through a glass panel and intercom.
Faizal's remark comes at a time when the debate of consular access has been raging wide and hot between the both countries.
Earlier in the day, Pakistan said that today's meet between Jadhav and his family- was purely allowed on humanitarian grounds. The foreign office spokesperson also said that the meeting was extended by 10 minutes on the request of Jadhav family.
Faizal further reiterated the government's stand and "categorically" denied it was a consular access even as Indian Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh was present during the meeting.
JP Singh was indeed present at the meeting, but he was seated at a distance and was not allowed to speak to Jadhav.
"The Indian diplomat could see the meeting but was not allowed to meet. It would have been consular access had the Indian diplomat spoken to Jadhav," Faizal explained, adding the Indian request for a possible consular access was with Pakistan and "would be taken up at an appropriate time".
WHAT DID JADHAV AND HIS FAMILY TALK ABOUT
He said the two women spoke "openly and had a productive meeting" with Jadhav. "It was a positive gesture, extended on humanitarian grounds. We extended the meeting by 10 minutes on the request of Jadhav's family. It has nothing to do with legalities."
WHY DECEMBER 25
Faizal also explained that December 25 was chosen as the day for Jadhav to meet his family because it is the birth anniversary of Pakistan's founding father- Mohammed Ali Jinnah.
JADHAV, A TERRORIST: FAIZAL
Faisal reiterated that the meeting did not mean any change in Pakistan's stance regarding Jadhav, who he termed "a spy and terrorist who has been sentenced to death".
"Jadhav is the face of Indian terror in Pakistan. He has confessed to killing Aslam Chaudhary. He expressed remorse for taking Pakistani lives. He is a serving naval officer, has confessed to being a RAW agent."
ABOUT KULBHUSHAN JADHAV
An Indian national, Kulbhushan Jadhav has been languishing in a Pakistani jail ever since his arrest last year over allegations that he is a spy for the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India's premier external intelligence agency.
On April 10 this year, a military court in Pakistan convicted him of espionage charges and sentenced him to death.
The death sentence against Jadhav was stayed in May this year after New Delhi took Islamabad to the International Court of Justice alleging Pakistan had violated the Vienna Convention on Consular Access.
With inputs from IANS
