New Delhi: Pakistan on Friday offered third consular access to India for Kulbhushan Jadhav, reported Pakistani media.
"A note verbale has been sent meeting India's demand to not have security personnel during the meeting," said Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
Earlier, India had said that its national Kulbhushan Jadhav was visibly under stress as Pakistan did not permit a free conversation between him and the consular officers on Thursday and they were not given "unimpeded, unhindered and unconditional" access.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson had said in a statement that the conversation between Jadhav and consular officers was being recorded as evident from a camera and the consular access offered by Pakistan was neither meaningful nor credible. The spokesperson had said that Pakistani officials with an intimidating demeanour were present in close proximity of Jadhav and consular officers despite the protests of the Indian side.
India has requested Pakistan more than 12 times to provide unimpeded, unhindered and unconditional consular access to Jadhav, who remains incarcerated in Pakistani custody since 2016. In May 2020, Pakistan passed an ordinance, ostensibly to comply with the order of the International Court of Justice.
India recently requested the Pakistani side for an unimpeded, unhindered and unconditional consular access to be provided on July 13. Pakistan was asked to ensure that the meeting is held in an atmosphere free from fear of retribution and without the presence of any Pakistani official in the vicinity of Jadhav and the Indian consular officials.
Pakistan was also requested to not record (video and audio) the meeting.
The statement said that despite Pakistan's assurance of ensuring unhindered consular access to Jadhav, the environment and the arrangements of the meeting were not in accordance with the assurances of Islamabad.
