India can be allowed consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav: Khawaja Asif

Foreign minister says India wouldn't have been so kind if Pakistan was in the same position

Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif has said Pakistan could allow India consular access to convicted spy Kulbhushan Jadhav.

However, he added, India would not have done the same if Pakistan was in the same position, Express News reported.

In an interview, the minister said Jadhav’s case was being heard by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and Pakistan did not want India to create an impression that he was being denied access to his family.

“We can’t make a decision in Jadhav’s case on mercy alone. We will take our national interests and security into consideration when reviewing his appeal for clemency,” he added.



“We have allowed access to Jadhav’s family purely on a humanitarian basis. However, if we were in the same place, India wouldn’t have been so kind to us.”

New Delhi has repeatedly sought access to the convicted spy but Islamabad denied the permission on the ground that consular access in cases related to spies was not applicable.

Meanwhile, in an interview to a channel, the foreign minister said Pakistan had allowed the meeting of Kulbhushan with his family in view of the situation.

“His case is in the international court of justice and we do not want to create weakness in it for Pakistan,” he said.



He was operating from within and outside Pakistan and he caused deaths of Pakistanis and more deaths were also possible, he added.

“India is complicating every issue including Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.”

“We will examine the mercy appeal of Kulbhushan in light of our interests,” he said.