Islamabad: Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is on death row in Pakistan for alleged spying, Monday met his wife and mother — but separated by a glass screen — in a carefully choreographed event that unfolded in tweets, photos and TV footage.
The 40-minute meeting, which took place after many representations, took place at the heavily guarded Foreign Affairs Ministry building, and came after the International Court of Justice asked Pakistan in May to stay his execution.
It was the first time that Jadhav was meeting his family since his arrest in March, and Pakistan portrayed it as a humanitarian gesture to mark the birthday of the country’s founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah.
“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,” foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal tweeted.
The tweet made it a point to identify Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer, with his military title. Pakistan claims its security forces arrested Jadhav from its restive Balochistan province after he reportedly entered from Iran. It claims that he was in possession of an Indian passport that identified him as Hussein Mubarak Patel.
India, however, maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Indian Navy.
PTI
