Above: Kulbhushan Jadhav
The Pakistan has softened its stance on Kulbhushan Jadhav. It has allowed Jadhav’s wife to meet him.
However, media reports quoted Indian government sources as saying that consular access has still not been given in spite of numerous appeals and that Islamabad is facilitating such a get together between Jadhav and his wife only on “humanitarian grounds”.
This signifies that official Indian access to Jadhav will not be permitted.
According to the experts, the move could ease tensions between India and Pakistan and is seen as a strong message of flexibility by Islamabad.
On the other hand, the move could bolster India’s effort to bring back Jadhav who was given death penalty by a Pakistani military court in April this year on charges of espionage and sabotage. Later on, Jadhav death sentence was stayed by International Court of Justice (ICJ) after India approached the Court.
India welcomed this move by Pakistan. India’s Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the “meeting will boost the moral of Jadhav”.
Sitharaman reportedly told the media: “There are procedures. The meeting of Kulbhushan’s wife with him will increase his moral. We are trying our best to bring Kulbhushan Jadhav back to India.”
Pakistan claims that Jadhav was captured from Balochistan but India has rubbished the claims saying that Jadhav, a former naval officer, was kidnapped from Iran and was involved in business after retiring from the Indian Navy.
—India Legal Bureau