ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The convicted Indian Spy Kulbhushan Jadhav met his mother Avanti and wife Chetankul at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad on Monday, almost 10 months after the former was arrested from Balochistan on espionage charges.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal shared the pictures of meeting between Kulbhushan Jadhav and his family on Twitter, saying “The mother and wife of Commander Jadhav sitting comfortably in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pakistan. We honour our commitments”.
The meeting began at 02:18 pm PST and lasted for 40 minutes in a special room of Agha Shahi Block of the Foreign Office, and in which the Foreign Office’s Director (India) Dr Fariha Bugti was also present as representative from Pakistan. The family separated by sound-proof glass spoke to Kulbhushan Jadhav over an intercom.
Pakistan had allowed the meeting of death raw convict Kulbhushan Jadhav with his mother and wife on humanitarian grounds.
Earlier Kulbhushan Jadhav’s mother and wife reached the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from Indian High Commission along with the Indian Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh amid tight security.
While walking towards the entrance of the ministry, Kulbhushan Jadhav’s mother took a brief pause and said ‘Namaste’ to Pakistani media. However, she didn’t answer any of the media’s questions.
Kulbhushan Jadhav was brought to the ministry through the back door for meeting with his family members under strict security measures.
Prior to the meeting, initially security protocol was carried out as per the procedure. Meanwhile, helicopters were also hovering over the Foreign Office building.
Kulbhushan Jadhav’s family reached Islamabad via a commercial flight, and then was transported to the Indian High Commission.
Prior to the meeting, Pakistan had also permitted media interaction with Kulbhushan Jadhav’s mother and wife following their meeting in Islamabad, and had also offered to issue visas to Indian journalists for coverage.
However, India requested Pakistan not to arrange any such media interaction with the visiting females, as well didn’t send media representatives along with Kulbhushan Jadhav’s family to Islamabad.
The mother and wife of detained Indian Spy returned to India on Monday evening via Oman after spending some time at the Indian High Commission.
“Pakistan permits the meeting of wife and mother of Commander Jadhav with him, as a humanitarian gesture, on the birthday of the Father of the nation, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah,” Dr Faisal said in his earlier Tweet on Monday morning.
Though Pakistan didn’t give India consular access to RAW agent Kulbhushan Jadhav, saying that presence of Indian diplomat in the meeting was not tantamount to granting consular access to the detained Spy.