Pakistan grants visa to spouse and mother of imprisoned Indian spy
Final decision on Jadhav’s fate rests with Gen. Bajwa
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s High Commission in New Delhi issued visas on Wednesday to the spouse and mother of alleged Indian spy, Kulbhushan Jadhav on “humanitarian grounds.”
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on Twitter that its diplomatic mission in India had processed the visas. Jadhav’s wife and mother are expected to make the journey to Pakistan on Dec. 25 escorted by an Indian diplomat.
The Foreign Office on Thursday sent emails to journalists requesting contact information and identification numbers of reporters, leading to speculation that a press briefing with Jadhav’s family members will likely be held in Islamabad. However, officials have yet to confirm that.
Jadhav was arrested on charges of spying and terrorism on March 3, 2016, in the southwestern province of Baluchistan. Pakistan has claimed that he is a serving officer in the Indian Navy working in Pakistan for India’s external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), and that his goal was to sabotage the multibillion-dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor, as well as to support separatist movements in the region.
That claim was confirmed in a video confession by Jadhav while in custody and he was subsequently sentenced to death on April 10 this year.
With negotiations between India and Pakistan for his release stalled, India approached the International Court of Justice in May and Jadhav received a stay of execution. New Delhi has repeatedly rejected Islamabad’s evidence as “false propaganda” and requested consular access to Jadhav, which Pakistan has so far refused.
Speaking to Arab News, former Pakistan High Commissioner to India Aziz Ahmed Khan said: “Normally spies are not given consular access.”
A military court rejected Jadhav’s appeals for mercy, and a final decision on his fate from Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa is pending.
India only accepted Pakistan’s offer to allow Jadhav’s wife to visit him on the condition that Jadhav’s mother and an Indian diplomat were also allowed to travel to attend the meeting.
Khan told Arab News that he thought it unlikely Pakistan could use Jadhav as leverage to bring India back to the table to discuss decadesold disputes that remain unresolved between the two neighboring nuclear powers. Border skirmishes, coupled with India’s silent treatment toward Pakistan, have seen relations sour in recent times.
“Pakistan would like India to hold meaningful dialogue, but forcing India (to do so) does not serve the (intended) purpose,” said Khan.