NEW DELHI: In a new video released by Pakistan on Monday, jailed Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav is seen thanking the country for the “grand gesture” of allowing him to meet his wife and mother, according to Times of India.
“I requested a meeting with my wife and mother and I am thankful to the government of Pakistan for this grand gesture,” says Jadhav in the video shot purportedly before the meeting with his family.
At a press conference by the Pakistani foreign office shortly after the meeting, the country was at pains to clarify that the meeting had not been organised to win the ongoing case at the International Court of Justice.
It also admitted that this could not be called “consular access,” and that while India’s deputy high commissioner in Islamabad JP Singh did accompany the duo, he could not speak or listen to Jadhav.
The meeting between Jadhav and his family was extended by 10 minutes after a request from the former, informed Foreign Office Spokesperson Mohammad Faisal.
Faisal also brandished medical reports that purportedly showed that Jadhav was in “excellent healthy condition.”
However, it is suspected that the meeting had more to do with the international pressure surrounding the case, than with any humanitarian considerations.
Jadhav, a 47-year-old retired Indian Navy officer was arrested by Pakistani counter-terrorism officials in March 2016, after being suspected of being involved in subversive activities in Balochistan and Karachi. A military court in April 2017 found him guilty of espionage and sabotage and sentenced him to death.
