Pakistan allows Indian death-row spy’s family to meet him

ISLAMABAD, Dec 25 (BBC): The family of an Indian ex-navy officer facing a death sentence for spying in Pakistan has been allowed to visit him.

The mother and wife of Kulbhushan Jadhav met him in Islamabad on Monday, amid arguments between the two countries over his conviction.

Pakistan said Mr Jadhav was arrested in Balochistan in 2016 and it has produced videos that it says are confessions.

India has argued that he was kidnapped by Pakistan while he was in Iran and has been tried on "concocted charges".

Jadhav's mother, Avanti, and his wife, Chetankul, were accompanied by Indian diplomats during the visit.

The family met him at the Pakistani foreign ministry in Islamabad and were scheduled to take a flight back to Delhi in the evening.

Pakistan foreign office spokesman Mohammad Faisal said that the meeting was allowed on "humanitarian grounds".

BBC Hindi's Shumaila Jaffery in Islamabad says the women were brought to the Pakistan foreign office building amid tight security.

"Both women looked very serious. They didn't say anything despite journalists shouting questions at them. They quietly walked towards the building," our correspondent adds.

46-year-old Mr Jadhav was a resident of Mumbai. He is the son of retired Mumbai police officer Sudhir Jadhav. A former officer, he was in the navy for more than a dozen years.

His family says he quit the navy to start his own business and was working at Iran's Chabahar port.

Jadhav was given a death sentence by a military court in April 2017. He is married and has children.

The two countries are also fighting a legal case over Mr Jadhav at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.

In May, the ICJ ordered Pakistan not to execute him until it had time to hear the case brought by India.

There have been differing accounts of how and where Mr Jadhav was detained.

Pakistan says he was held on March 03, 2016, in its restive Balochistan province. The area has been hit by a separatist insurgency, which Islamabad accuses India of backing. India says he was kidnapped by Pakistan while he was in Iran.