Pak allows mother, wife to meet Kulbhushan Jadhav on Dec 25

New Delhi: Pakistan has granted permission to Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, currently on death row, to meet his wife and mother in jail on December 25.

According to media reports, Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman Dr Mohammad Faisal confirmed the development adding that an official from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad would escort the mother-wife duo when they meet Jadhav later in December.

On November 10, Pakistan had allowed Jadhav to meet his wife 'purely on humanitarian grounds,' but the request about his mother was pending.

The Indian government has been trying to arrange a meeting of Jadhav with his family since July and had moved a visa application for his mother, but Pakistan had not reciprocated at the time.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had even written a "personal letter" to Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz asking for approval of visa application of Jadhav’s mother so that she may travel to Pakistan.

Pakistan has also turned down at least 15 Indian requests for consular access to Jadhav since his arrest in 2016 and India says that this was in violation of the Vienna Convention.

The change in stance is a possible indication that Pakistan is under pressure from the international community and the case in International Court of Justice (ICJ) is not going in their direction.

Jadhav has been in a Pakistani prison since March 2016 after security forces there arrested him on charges of spying.

Pakistan has accused Jadhav of being spy for the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India's premier foreign intelligence agency, and of fomenting unrest in the restive Balochistan region.

Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in April on charges of espionage and terrorism. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in May halted his execution on India's appeal.

In October, the Pakistan Army had said it is close to a decision on the mercy petition of Jadhav.

Pakistan claims its security forces arrested him from restive Balochistan province on March 3, 2016 after he reportedly entered from Iran. However, India maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Navy.

Jadhav's sentencing had evoked a sharp reaction in India.

After India approached the ICJ, a 10-member bench on May 18 restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav till adjudication of the case.

The ICJ has asked Pakistan to submit its response or memorial by December 13 before the court could start further proceedings in the case.