India has informed Islamabad that the mother and wife of
convicted Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav will arrive in Pakistan on
December 25 to hold a scheduled meeting with the spy.
The
two women will arrive in the country through a commercial flight and
will leave Pakistan the same day after the meeting, the Foreign Office
said on Saturday.
Indian deputy high commissioner in
Islamabad will accompany the duo during the meeting. One or two officers
of the FO will also be present during this time.
New Delhi conveyed this information to Islamabad after, according to diplomatic sources DawnNews
spoke to, Pakistan gave India the deadline of tonight to provide the
requisite information about the spy's family members' visit or risk the
meeting being deferred or cancelled.
The sources had
earlier said that Pakistan has completed the preparations to arrange the
meeting between Jadhav and his family next week, but India was delaying
providing relevant information about his mother and wife's visit to
Islamabad.
The Indian High Commission was informed about
the issuance of the deadline, the sources had said. They said Pakistan
needed time to bring Jadhav to the Foreign Office and for other
security-related matters.
Until this moment, India had
not communicated to Pakistan when and through which flight the two women
would reach Islamabad, the sources had said. It was also not made clear
whether Jadhav's two children would also travel to Pakistan.
In preparation for the meeting, Pakistan has deployed security and traffic personnel within and outside the FO.
The
meeting will last between 15 minutes to an hour, diplomatic sources
said. They said Jadhav's mother and wife would be allowed to speak to
media representatives if they so desire.
This meeting between the spy and his family members will not be the last, the sources said.
The Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi had issued visas to Jadhav's mother and wife earlier in the week.
The visas were issued after Pakistan decided to allow Jadhav's mother to visit him, in addition to his wife.
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.
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.
