New Delhi: Twenty-two months after Kulbhushan Jadhav was taken into illegal detention in Pakistan, his family will have the glimpse of him on Monday.
It will be an emotional journey for his wife and mother who are travelling to Pakistan for a brief meeting an official from the Ministry of External Affairs has accompanied them on a commercial flight from Delhi.
After 22 requests for consular access were denied to India, Pakistan made a sudden offer to allow Jadhav’s wife a meeting with him on what they claimed, “humanitarian grounds". Interestingly, India had been seeking a visa for his mother Avanti Jadhav all along. There was apprehension on part of India to let the wife travel alone to Pakistan.
India told Pakistan she will be accompanied by her mother-in- law and sought a sovereign guarantee for their safety and security while in Pakistan. After these demands were met, modalities for their travel were decided by India.
Pakistan's foreign ministry spokesperson tweeted on Sunday that India's Deputy High Commissioner to Islamabad will be accompanying Jadhav's wife and mother in Pakistan.
Just a fortnight ago, Pakistan made a written submission to the International Court of Justice where it once again made the same charges of espionage and subversive activities against Jadhav.
India has clarified that he was a former navy personnel who was doing legitimate business at Chabahar port in Iran. In fact, India has been seeking answers as to how he landed up in Balochistan from where he was apparently arrested. India believes he was kidnapped and false charges were foisted on him.
After a military court in Pakistan handed him death penalty in April this year, India moved the ICJ. It is now a bid to save Jadhav from the gallows and bring him back that India is pursuing forcefully at The Hague.
India has made a strong case saying his human rights have been violated apart from the fact that Pakistan has defied norms of international diplomatic relations by not allowing consular access even once.
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