Pakistan grants visas to Kulbhushan Jadhav's wife, mother

New Delhi: The Pakistan High Commission here on Wednesday issued visas to the mother and wife of Kulbhushan Jadhav to visit Islamabad to meet the death row prisoner.

"Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi issued the visas to the mother and wife of Commander Jadhav to visit Islamabad to meet him," Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said.

On December 17, 2017, Pakistan had said that the visa applications of Jadhav's wife and mother had been received and were being "processed".

Jadhav's mother and wife are expected to arrive in Pakistan on Saturday via the Wagha Border. Informed sources said that during a meeting on Monday, Pakistan's National Security Committee cleared the visas for Jadhav's mother Avantika Jadhav and his wife.

Pakistan had rejected India's plea for consular access to Jadhav, a retired navy official who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying.

Kulbhushan Jadhav was sentenced on charges of espionage and terrorism.

India maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the navy. Pakistan claims he was arrested from Balochistan after he reportedly entered from Iran.