Islamabad, July 13 (ANI): The Pakistan foreign ministry has indicated that they are considering visa request for convicted Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav’s mother Avantika Jadhav, media reports said on Thursday.
The announcement on the visa request came from the Pakistan foreign office, according to ANI.
During the weekly Foreign Office briefing, its Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said that asking for recommendations from Sartaj Aziz to grant visas was against “diplomatic norms”.
The pending visa application of the mother Jadhav is currently under review, he said.
He also accused India of imposing “conditions” for the approval of medical visas of Pakistani patients seeking medical treatment in that country.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that there was no progress in position on providing consular access & visa for his mother.
The announcement comes three days after the Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj slammed Pakistan for not responding to the request. The External Affairs Minister had on Monday Aziz had “not even acknowledged” her personal letter requesting to grant Pakistani visa for Kulbhushan Jadhav’s mother.
Jadhav was arrested from Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province on March 3, 2016 and was convicted in April by a Pakistani military court, where he was sentenced to death on charges of espionage and terrorism.
In May, India moved the International Court of Justice at The Hague, which stayed the execution pending a final decision by the court.
Pakistan has been repeatedly denying consular access to the former Indian naval officer. While denying the consular access for the 18th time, Pakistan blamed India for funding terrorism, adding that granting access is out of the question.
Pakistan has also claimed that the former Indian Navy officer confessed in a video that he was involved in spying and terror activities in Balochistan, a charge rejected by India.
(The featured picture at the top shows Indian children demonstrate demanding the release of the alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav)
