Kulbhushan Jadhav thanks Pak govt for meeting with wife, mother

Islamabad: “I thank the government of Pakistan,” said Kulbhushan Jadhav, the Indian national on death sentence in Islamabad, minutes after meeting his wife and mother.

“I requested a meeting with my wife and mother and I am thankful to Govt of Pakistan for this grand gesture,” Kulbhushan conveyed his message in a new video released by Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry.

Accompanied by Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh and a Pakistani woman official, Kulbhushan’s mother Avanti Jadhav and wife Chetankul Jadhav entering the main building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).

The meeting, which took place at the MOFA's Agha Shahi Block, started around 1:35 pm and lasted around 30 minutes.

This is the first meeting between Kulbhushan, who was convicted of espionage, and his family since his arrest on March 3, 2016.

Pakistan government had allowed the mother and wife of Kulbhushan in the light of "Islamic traditions" and said that the meeting was "based on purely humanitarian grounds".

On December 20, Pakistan issued visa to Avanti and Chetankul to visit Islamabad to meet Kulbhushan.

Kulbhushan, 47, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April, following which India moved the ICJ in May. The ICJ halted his execution on India's appeal pending the final verdict by it.

Pakistan claims its security forces arrested Kulbhushan alias Hussein Mubarak Patel from its restive Balochistan province after he reportedly entered from Iran.

India, however, maintains that Kulbhushan was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Indian Navy.