Pakistan on Thursday said it is considering India’s request to grant a visa to Kulbhushan Jadhav’s mother so that she can travel to the country to meet her son — who has been sentenced to death by a military court here.
“Pakistan is considering the Indian request for the grant of visa to the mother of Kulbhushan Jadhav,” Pakistan Foreign Office Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said.
Zakaria’s remarks came two days after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi said she had written a "personal letter" to Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz asking for approval of visa application of Jadhav’s mother Avantika so that she may travel to Pakistan to meet her son.
However, India on Thursday said it has no information on Pakistan considering the visa request of the mother of Kulbhushan Jadhav to visit her son facing death in that country on charges of spying. "We have no information diplomatically from Pakistan on the issue," MEA spokesperson Gopal Baglay said at the weekly media briefing here.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay said the case was now before the International Court of Justice and India is following the September 13 timeline to give its submission.
There has been no change in Pakistan's position on providing consular access to Jadhav, a retired Indian Navy officer, as also on visa request for his mother, he said.
Pakistan has so far dismissed 16 request by India for consular access to Jadhav.
She said Aziz did not even respond to her letter. "I wrote a personal letter to Mr Sartaj Aziz for the grant of her visa to Pakistan. However, Mr Aziz has not shown the courtesy even to acknowledge my letter," she had tweeted.
Zakaria also accused India of imposing "conditions" for the approval of medical visas of Pakistani patients seeking medical treatment in the country.
Zakaria said asking for recommendations from Aziz to grant visas was against "diplomatic norms". Jadhav, 46, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military tribunal in April on charges of espionage and terrorism.