Pakistan grants visas to Indian spy Jadhav’s wife and mother
new delhi — The Pakistan High Commission here on Wednesday issued visas to the mother and wife of Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav to visit Islamabad to meet the deathrow prisoner.
“Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi issued the visas to the mother and wife of Commander Jadhav to visit Islamabad to meet him,” Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammed Faisal said.
On December 17, 2017, Pakistan had said that the visa applications of Jadhav’s wife and mother had been received and were being “processed”.
Jadhav’s mother and wife are expected to arrive in Pakistan on Saturday via the Wagah Border.
Informed sources said that during a meeting on Monday, Pakistan’s National Security Committee cleared the visas for Jadhav’s mother Avantika Jadhav and his wife.
Pakistan had rejected India’s plea for consular access to Jadhav, a retired navy official who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for spying and promoting terrorism in pakistan. Jadhav, who was captured by Pakistani security forces on March 3, 2016, in Balochistan, was sentenced to death by a military tribunal earlier this year for his involvement in terrorism and espionage. His appeals against the conviction have been rejected by the military appellate court and his mercy petition has been lying with Army Chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa.
India has challenged Pakistan’s refusal to grant consular access to the spy in the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The ICJ is hearing the case and has restrained the Pakistan government from executing Jadhav till it decides the case.
Jadhav’s wife, who has not been named publicly, has petitioned for him to be spared the death penalty. Authorities have not issued a final ruling on the sentence. —