Pakistan says consular access to Jadhav not given

IANS  |  Islamabad 

The Foreign Office on Monday clarified that has not been given consular access to alleged Indian Jadhav, ahead of his meeting with his wife and mother here.

Foreign Office said the presence of an Indian during the scheduled meeting between Jadhav and his family does not mean has been given consular access to Jadhav, on death row in

earlier had said that had been given consular access to the Jadhav, describing it as a "concession".

After their arrival from earlier in the day, Jadhav's mother and wife reached the Foreign Office here to meet him. They were accompanied by J.P. Singh, and will be allowed to meet him for 30 minutes.

They are slated to leave the country later in the day. The roads leading from and to the have been closed to traffic.

A Mumbai-based former naval officer-turned-businessman, Jadhav was arrested on March 3, 2016, and was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism.

After persistent demands by New Delhi, the government finally permitted the meeting terming it as "purely on humanitarian grounds".

has maintained Jadhav's innocence and said he was kidnapped from where he had gone for handling his businesses after superannuation from the

Despite the death verdict, last week reiterated that he was not under a threat of an immediate execution as his mercy petitions were still pending.

--IANS

soni-ksk/rn

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Mon, December 25 2017. 14:16 IST