Islamabad: Kulbhushan Jadhav interacts with wife, mother through glass panel

The mother and wife of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav met him at the Pakistan Foreign Office in Islamabad, but with a glass panel separating them and spoke to them through an intercom. The Pakistan Foreign Office released photos of Jadhav, who is on death row, meeting his family after a gap of 22 months.

The meeting started at 2.18 p.m. and went for forty minutes, according to the Foreign Office. Indian Deputy High Commissioner J.P. Singh, who accompanied Jadhav's family, was seen watching the reunion from a distance.

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammed Faisal tweeted images showing Jadhav speaking to his mother Avanti and wife through an intercom with a glass panel separating them.

Pakistani authorities have said the meeting was allowed “purely on humanitarian grounds”, though it did not allow one-on-one meeting between Jadhav and his family.

Earlier, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mohammed Faisal tweeted a picture of Jadhav's mother Avanti and his wife seated ahead of the meeting, adding they were "sitting comfortably in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pakistan. We honour our committments".

In an earlier tweet, Faisal said that Pakistan permitted the meeting as “a humanitarian gesture on the birth anniversary of the nation's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah”.

No consular access given to Jadhav, says Pakistan

The Pakistan Foreign Office on Monday clarified that India has not been given consular access to alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, ahead of his meeting with his wife and mother here.

Foreign Office spokesperson Muhammad Faisal said the presence of an Indian diplomat during the scheduled meeting between Jadhav and his family does not mean India has been given consular access to Jadhav, on death row in Pakistan.

Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif earlier had said that India had been given consular access to the Jadhav, describing it as a "concession".

After their arrival from Dubai earlier in the day, Jadhav's mother Avanti and wife reached the Foreign Office here to meet him. They were accompanied by Indian Deputy High Commissioner J.P. Singh, and will be allowed to meet him for 30 minutes.

They are slated to leave the country later in the day.

India has maintained Jadhav's innocence and said he was kidnapped from Iran where he had gone for handling his businesses after superannuation from the Indian Navy.

Despite the death verdict, Pakistan last week reiterated that he was not under a threat of an immediate execution as his mercy petitions were still pending.