Kulbhushan Jadhav's kin to meet him today
Kulbhushan Jadhav's kin to meet him today
After a long wait, wife and mother of Kulbhushan Jadhav will meet him on Monday.
The two women will travel to Pakistan by a commercial flight, and are scheduled to leave by evening.
Indian Deputy High Commissioner in Islamabad J.P. Singh will accompany them, along with one or two officers of the FO, the Dawn reported.
Pakistan has deployed security and traffic personnel within and outside the FO in view of the meeting.
The meeting will last between 15 minutes to an hour and the two women will be allowed to speak to the media if they wish to, the Dawn said, citing the diplomatic sources.
In addition to this, the meeting between Jadhav and his family members reportedly will not be the last one.
On December 20, Pakistan issued visas to Jadhav's mother and wife to meet him on humanitarian grounds.
Jadhav's family had applied for visas last week.
Earlier this month, Pakistan had agreed to facilitate the visit of Jadhav's kin and also assured their safety, security and freedom of movement in the nation.
Pakistan has repeatedly rejected India's plea for consular access to Jadhav at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), alleging that he is not an ordinary person and had entered the country with an intent of spying and carrying out sabotage activities.
On December 13, Pakistan submitted its reply to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Jadhav case dismissing India's stance on Jadhav. Pakistan in its reply has alleged that Jadhav is not an ordinary person and had entered the country with the intent of spying and carrying out sabotage activities.
The reply, which was submitted by the Foreign Office's Director (India), Fariha Bugti, also claimed that Jadhav's case does not fall under the purview of the Vienna Convention.
Pakistan's reply comes after India had submitted its written response to registrar Philippe Couvreur of the ICJ in the same case in September this year.
Jadhav was arrested in March this year, in Balochistan, Pakistan, over charges of alleged involvement in espionage and subversive activities for India's intelligence agency - the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
India, however, maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Indian Navy.
On April 10, 2017, Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Field General Court Martial (FGCM) in Pakistan.
On May 18, 2017, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) stayed the hanging, after India approached it against the death sentence.
India has appealed to the court to impose emergency measures for Jadhav's execution to be suspended until the legal battle in Hague concludes, while also accusing Pakistan of violating the Vienna Convention by failing to provide him with consular access and for being in breach of international human rights law.
-ANI