Jailed Kulbhushan Jadhav to meet wife, mother in Pakistan today

Islamabad: Jailed former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav’s wife and mother will arrive here on Monday for a meeting with him, the Pakistan foreign office said amid indications from Islamabad that it is in no hurry to hang the prisoner convicted on charges of “espionage and terrorism”.

For the much-awaited meeting on Christmas day, the mother and wife of Mr Jadhav will arrive by a comm-ercial flight on Monday and return later in the day. Indian deputy high commissioner J.P. Singh will accompany the two during the meeting at the ministry of foreign affairs.

“India informs that the mother and wife of Commander Jadhav will arrive by commercial flight on December 25 and leave the same day. Indian DHC in Islamabad will be the accompanying diplomat,” foreign office spokesman Mohammad Faisal tweeted on Satur-day night. Mr Faisal had earlier said that the meeting’s photo and video foot-age will also be issued.

The foreign ministry said that this is not the last meeting of Mr Jadhav with his family. “Pakist-an has nothing to hide which is why Indian med-ia was permitted to cover the meeting. However, India voted against this,” said Mr Faisal.

Pakistan on December 20 issued visa to Mr Jadhav’s wife and mother to visit Islamabad to meet him. Mr Jadhav, 47, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April, following which India moved the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in May. The ICJ halted his execution on India’s appeal pending the final verdict by it.

On Sunday, Mr Faisal said that Pakistan is in no hurry to hang Mr Jadhav.

He said that Mr Jadhav’s mercy appeal is pending before Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa and even if he rejects it, the death-row inmate has a chance to file another plea before President Mamnoon Hussain.

The foreign office spokesman said that India had requested Pakistan not to allow media interaction of Mr Jadhav’s mother and wife to ensure their privacy.

“We had invited the Pakistani and Indian media for coverage in addition to the international media but India did not favour such an interaction. We have not issued visas to the Indian journalists keeping in view the Indian request (against media interaction),” he said.

Mr Faisal said that Pakistan had a strong case in the ICJ against the India plea. “The ICJ has not give a decision and at the most they can seek a re-trial or ask us for consular access,” he said.

The spokesperson said that India needs to identify whether Kulbushan Jadhav is Hussain Mubarik Patel or Jadhav. “They admit he is a former navy official but have not given us any details. If he is retired, we need details. They need to tell us what he was doing in Pakistan,” he said.

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