Jadhav to meet family on December 25, FO confirms

Mother, wife to arrive through a commercial flight in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: India has confirmed that the mother and wife of Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav will arrive in Pakistan on December 25 and meet the convict in the presence of an Indian diplomat on the same day.

“India informs that the mother and wife of Commander Jadhav will arrive by a commercial flight on 25 Dec and leave the same day. Indian DHC [deputy high commissioner] in Islamabad will be the accompanying diplomat,” wrote the Foreign Office spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal in a Twitter post.

India informs that the mother and wife of Commander Jadhav will arrive by commercial flight on 25 Dec and leave the same day. Indian DHC in Islamabad will be the accompanying diplomat.

— Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Pakistan (@ForeignOfficePk) December 23, 2017

The announcement came late on Saturday night  after Pakistan gave India a deadline to share the relevant information about arrival of the family members of Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav.

Islamabad on Wednesday issued visas to the mother and wife of the Indian spy, who has been awarded death punishment by a military court in Pakistan.

According to well-placed diplomatic sources, Pakistan has made all the necessary arrangements to conduct a meeting between the convicted Indian spy and his two family members.

They said duration of the meeting will be from 15 minutes to an hour, and one or two officials of the Foreign Office will also be present in it.

Pakistan has issued visas to Jadhav’s wife and mother from Dec 24 to Dec 26 only for Islamabad. Some reports suggested that Jadhav wass interested solely in meeting his wife and not any other member.



According to sources, both his mother and wife will be allowed to speak to media should they wish so. The sources dispelled reports that it would be the last meeting between the spy and his family and that he was going to be hanged soon.

In a bid to ensure transparency and openness and to avoid any speculations, the Foreign Office has made special arrangements for the media coverage of the event for which passes will be issued to the related journalists.

The Foreign Office will also issue photographs and videos of the meeting. Security officials will be deployed in and outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during the RAW operative’s appearance.

Jadhav, an officer of the Indian Navy who later joined RAW, was arrested in Balochistan during a joint counterterrorism operation in March 2016 when he was crossing into Pakistan from neighbouring Iran.

Later, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) released his recorded video statement in which he confessed to working for RAW to instigate violence and terrorist attacks in Pakistan, particularly in restive Balochistan and Karachi.



The spy was later awarded death sentence by a military tribunal in April this year after he was found guilty of espionage and subversive and terrorist activities. His mercy petition is pending before army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who has yet to decide on it.

India also went to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague which asked Pakistan not to execute Jadhav till its final decision. Last week, Pakistan submitted a detailed reply to the ICJ, rejecting Indian arguments.

Pakistan hopes that the ICJ would throw out the India’s application. Apparently, Islamabad has allowed Jadhav to meet his family in order to strengthen its case before the international court.