Pakistan allows Kulbhushan Jhadav's meeting with wife, mother on Dec 25

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has decided to allow the wife and mother of convicted Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav to meet him on December 25, according to the Foreign Office.

Speaking at a weekly briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal said Jadhav’s wife and mother as well as an official of Indian High Commission have been allowed to visit him on Dec 25. The Indian authorities have also been communicated in this regard, he added.

In November this year Pakistan offered to arrange a meeting of Jadhav with his family members on humanitarian grounds.

Pakistan had so far denied consular access to the Indian spy despite India’s repeated requests stating that he is a spy. As India took the case to International Court of Justice (ICJ) in May, Pakistan told the UN court that “Pakistan doesn’t see the merit in a state which sends a spy and is seeking access to a tool for terror”.

Pakistani security agencies on March 24, 2016 apprehended an ‘on-duty RAW agent’ from Balochistan. The suspect was said to be an officer of the Indian navy working for the spy agency to destabilize Pakistan.

The operative had contacts with banned organizations and was working on plans to break Karachi and Balochistan away from Pakistan and to sabotage the billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.

On March 25, a day after the arrest, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs claimed that the Indian man arrested from Balochistan has no connection with the government, however, admitted that Kulbhushan Yadav is a former officer of the Indian navy.

On April 10, COAS, Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa confirmed his death sentence awarded by Field General Court Martial (FGCM).

Kidnapping of Pakistani citizens in Afghanistan 

During the briefing, Dr Faisal asked the Pakistani citizens living in Afghanistan to take cautions in the wake of increasing incidents of kidnapping of Pakistanis. They should also get themselves registered with the Pakistani embassy in Kabul, he advised.

The spokesperson expressed concern over US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, saying it will endanger peace in the region.

He also condemned the brutalities being committed against unarmed Kashmiris in India held Kashmir and urged the international community to help stop them.

Dr Faisal informed that in 2017 alone, Indian forces have resorted to ceasefire violations 1,300 times, resulting in loss of 52 precious lives.

Briefing on US Secretary of Defence James Mattis’s recent visit to Pakistan, Dr Faisal said the top US official lauded the professional conduct of the Pakistan’s armed forces.