Pakistan allows mother, wife to meet Kulbhushan but only through glass wall

New Delhi : Kulbhushan Jadhav met his mother and wife in Pakistan but was allowed to see and talk to them via glass wall. Congress said the meeting was deeply unsatisfactory.

Speaking to media, Shashi Tharoor said, “It is a step forward because after 21 to 22 months Pakistani government have arrested Kulbhushan Jadhav and finally somebody has been able to see him. So to that degree, it is a step forward.”

“On the other hand, the entire episode unfolded was deeply unsatisfactory. From the point of view of the family, the fact that both the mother and the wife were able to visit him was a good thing. But they could not touch him, hold him or hug him and they were able to see him only through a glass partition,” the Congress leader added.

“I think that was emotional but especially painful for them since the man is officially been sentenced to death. They may never see them alive again. In that sense, it was very disappointingly unhumanitarian spirit in which it was conducted,” Tharoor said.

The interaction started around 2.18 p.m. Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammed Faisal tweeted images showing Jadhav speaking to his mother and wife in a specially prepared room.

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

Jadhav's family was later taken to the Indian High Commission before their return to India via Oman. His mother thanked the Pakistan Foreign Office for allowing the meeting.

In an earlier tweet, Faisal shared a photo of Jadhav's mother and wife sitting in the Foreign Office. He said: "The mother and wife of Commander Jadhav sitting comfortably in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pakistan. We honour our commitments." 

After the meeting, the Foreign Office spokesperson called Jadhav "the face of Indian terror" and said it would decide on consular access to him at an appropriate time. It added that the meeting between Jadhav and his family was not the last.

"This is not the last meeting. Let me say it categorically," Faisal told reporters after former Indian Navy officer Jadhav's wife and mother met him after his arrest on March 3, 2016 from Balochistan, as Pakistan claims. 

Jadhav's case is pending before the International Court of Justice.