The death row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav on Monday met his wife and mother at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Pakistani officials said.
Accompanied by Deputy High Commissioner J.P. Singh and a woman Pakistani official, TV footage showed Jadhav’s family entering the main building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the door shutting behind them.
Later, the ministry released photos of Jadhav interacting with his family from behind a glass screen. a ministry spokesperson said the glass screen was kept for "security reasons" as the Indian side was stressing the security aspect.
"Jadhav was the face of terrorism in Pakistan"
Later, during a press briefing a Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Jadhav had confessed his action as a spy working for RA&W. The spokesperson also claimed Jadhav had supported TTP in the attack on Mehran naval air base. "Commander Jadhav was the face of terrorism in Pakistan," the spokesperson said.
Reiterating that the meeting was allowed only on humanitarian grounds, the Pakistani spokesperson said "we want answers from India on activities of Jadhav."
Earlier, Jadhav's mother and wife arrived at Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Rawalpindi on Monday noon, a couple of hours behind the schedule due to delay in the flight. They then travelled to Islamabad.
The family will be allowed to meet Jadhav up to an hour, sources in the Foreign Ministry said.
Humanitarian gesture
Pakistan permitted the meeting of wife and mother of Jadhav with him, "as a humanitarian gesture, on the birthday of the Father of the nation, Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah," the official spokesperson of Foreign Ministry tweeted.
In the meantime, Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told a Pakistani media channel that the country has granted India "consular access" to Jadhav.
In an interview to Geo News he added that an Indian High Commission official would accompany Jadhav’s wife and mother during their meeting with him.
When asked if it constituted “consular access as an Indian official would be present in the meeting”, Mr. Asif categorically said, “Yes”.
“Had India been in place of us, it would not have given us this concession,” he claimed.
However, Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman said the presence of Indian High Commission official should not be seen similar to consular access.
Indian officials too maintained that the Indian diplomat was only accompanying Mr. Jadhav’s family and it cannot be construed as “consular access.”
Jadhav, 47, was sentenced to death by a military court in April on the charges of espionage and terrorism. Thereafter, India moved the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in May. The ICJ halted the execution, pending its verdict.
(With inputs from PTI)
