ISLAMABAD: New Delhi has accepted Islamabad’s offer for a
meeting between convicted Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav and his wife,
mother and an Indian diplomat.
Foreign Office spokesman
Dr Mohammad Faisal, while speaking at the weekly media briefing,
confirmed the receipt of Indian acceptance.
The meeting
would now take place on Dec 25. “The details and modalities of the
meeting will now be worked out,” the spokesman said.
Pakistan
had initially offered a meeting between Jadhav and his wife on
“humanitarian grounds”. However, India made the acceptance of the offer
conditional to permission for his mother and an Indian diplomat to
accompany her. After extensive deliberations, the Indian request was
allowed and last week Dec 25 was proposed as the meeting date.
Pakistan denounces Indian missile test
Jadhav was captured in March last year from Balochistan and
tried for sabotage, espionage and terrorism by a military tribunal and
was this year convicted and sentenced to death. His appeal against death
sentence has been dismissed, while the mercy petition is awaiting Army
Chief Gen Qamar Bajwa’s decision.
The development in the
spy case has happened around the submission of Pakistan’s
counter-arguments at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that is
hearing an Indian petition challenging denial of consular access to
Jadhav by Pakistan.
The counter memorial was submitted by Pakistan at The Hague on Wednesday (Dec 13).
“The
extensive and detailed legal arguments prepared by the Counsel for
Pakistan, Barrister Khawar Qureshi Queen’s Counsel (QC), were filed at
the ICJ in accordance with the court timetable,” Dr Faisal said
describing it as “a comprehensive and robust document”.
Dr
Faisal, who is also government’s co-agent in the case, while expressing
confidence in the court, said: “We are fully confident that the ICJ
will have regard legal principles, as well as its existing case law, to
reject the claims made by India.”
Missile test
Denouncing
latest Indian missile test, the spokesman said, “Indian thirst for
becoming a regional hegemon is casting a dark shadow on South Asia”.
India had last week tested Akash, the first surface-to-air missile equipped with indigenous radio frequency seeker.
The
spokesman said India had pushed the region into arms race. “Its
hegemonic designs are a cause of serious concern not only to Pakistan
but also to the entire region,” he added.
Afghan conflict
In
what could be a major step towards trust building between Pakistan and
Afghanistan, the two sides have agreed to set up a coordination
mechanism between their militaries.
The spokesman
disclosed that “the two sides agreed to place liaison officers at each
other’s army headquarters and also establish ground coordination
centres”.
The agreement was reached during a visit by an Afghan military delegation led by the military operations chief.
Pakistan
and Afghanistan had during a visit by Gen Bajwa to Kabul on Oct 1
agreed on having comprehensive bilateral engagement agenda.
Later,
Pakistan shared with Afghanistan a blueprint for engagement called
‘Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Solidarity’ envisioning
“constructive and meaningful bilateral engagement” in political,
economic, military, intelligence domains through working groups.
Afghan
President Ashraf Ghani had acknowledged the proposal during his
statement at the 7th Ministerial Conference of the Heart of
Asia-Istanbul Process held in Baku on Dec 1, 2017, saying it would
provide the basis of a dialogue. Afghanistan is yet to formally respond
to the proposal.
Responding to a question about the
extension of Afghan refugee cards, Dr Faisal said different options were
being considered and no decision has been taken as yet.
The validity of current POR (Proof of Residence) refugee cards is due to expire on Dec 31.
