Jadhav meets mother, wife across glass wall
Pak promises more meetings amid row over consular contact
ISLAMABAD: Indian death row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav on Monday met his wife and mother, from behind a glass barrier at the Pakistan foreign ministry in Islamabad, for the first time since his arrest in March 2016.
Pakistan said it would not be the last such meeting but described Jadhav as the “face of Indian terrorism”. Islamabad insisted that the presence of Indian diplomats at the former Indian Navy officer’s 40-minutelong meeting with his wife Chetankul and mother Avanti did not amount to “consular access”.
In what appeared to be choreographed moves, the Pakistani foreign office released photos of the meeting, a pre-recorded video of Jadhav thanking the Pakistani government, and a medical report that claimed he was in good health.
The video showed Jadhav, sentenced to death for alleged espionage, saying Pakistani authorities had treated him in a dignified, respectful and profes- sional manner, for which he was thankful. In the video, Jadhav also “confessed” to the crimes he has been charged with in Pakistan.
Avanti and Chetankul were accompanied to the Pakistan foreign ministry office by Indian deputy high Commissioner JP Singh and three officials from the Indian foreign ministry. Only Jadhav’s family was allowed in the room, where he was sitting across the partition.
Singh and Pakistani officials, including Fareha Bugti of the India desk of the foreign ministry, monitored the meeting from outside.
Jadhav’s family stopped at the Indian high commission after arriving in Islamabad on an Emirates flight from Dubai on Monday morning. Avanti and Chetankul took an Oman Air flight back to India via Muscat on Monday evening.