Jadhav's mother, Avanti, and wife, Chetankul Jadhav first visited the Indian High Commission in the Pakistani capital, after which they moved to meet Jadhav at the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA). Indian Deputy High Commissioner in Islamabad JP Singh was also present during the meeting.
“It was a humanitarian meeting, it was not consular access. The Indian diplomat JP Singh was present and could see the meeting but was not allowed to meet, we extended the meeting by 10 minutes on request of Kulbhushan Jadhav,” Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal said.
In the backdrop of their visit, there is an ongoing row over whether Pakistan has granted India consular access to the prisoner.
On Sunday, Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told a Pakistani media channel that Pakistan had allowed India consular access by allowing the presence of an Indian diplomat during Jadhav’s meeting with family.
Meanwhile, stringent security measures have been taken and additional police and paramilitary troops deployed around the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad, where the meeting is scheduled to take place.
Jadhav, 47, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April, following which India moved the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in May. The ICJ halted his execution on India’s appeal pending the final verdict by it.
Pakistan claims its security forces arrested Jadhav alias Hussein Mubarak Patel from its restive Balochistan province on March 3 last year after he reportedly entered from Iran. India, however, maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Indian Navy.