Kulbhushan Jadhav's meeting with mother and wife not the last: Pakistan

Pakistan has permitted the meeting of wife and mother of Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav with him as a humanitarian gesture, on the birthday of the Father of the nation, Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

This was stated by Dr Mohammad Faisal, spokesman of the Foreign Office, in a post-meeting briefing to media here on Monday.

"The meeting was very positive and they (Jadhav's mother and wife) were satisfied. They thanked us before leaving," Faisal said.

It was for security reasons, we had already told them that you will be able to meet him but a security barrier would be there, he said on ANI's question regarding glass barrier between Jadhav and his mother and wife.

Pakistan said this would not be the last such meeting but described Jadhav as the "face of Indian terrorism".

Pakistan released a video of Jadhav in which he thanked the Pak govt for 'grand gesture'.

"I requested a meeting with my wife and mother and I am thankful to Govt of Pakistan for this grand gesture," he was heard saying in the video which was played several times before the Foreign Office briefing.

Earlier today, Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told a Pakistani media channel that Pakistan has granted India consular access to Indian death row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav by allowing the presence of an Indian diplomat during the meeting with his family.

In India, officials however downplayed the comments by the Pakistani minister, maintaining that an Indian diplomat was only accompanying Jadhav's family and it cannot be construed as "consular access".

Jadhav's wife and mother met him for the first time after his detention in March 2016, but they were seated across a glass partition at the Pakistan Foreign Office.

The 40-minute meeting, which took place after many representations, took place at the heavily guarded Foreign Affairs Ministry building, and came after the International Court of Justice asked Pakistan in May to stay his execution.

It was the fist time that Jadhav was meeting his family since his arrest in March, and Pakistan portrayed it as a humnaitarian gesture to mark the birthday of the country's founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah.

OneIndia News