Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother should be granted Visa on humanitarian grounds: Pakistan daily

Islamabad: A leading Pakistani daily has voiced its support in favour of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav`s mother, saying that she should be granted Visa to visit Pakistan on `humanitarian grounds.

`The Dawn, in an editorial, said that a Visa application by the mother of convicted Jadhav is the latest opportunity for India and Pakistan to back away from an increasingly confrontational stance against each other.

"The reasons for Jadhav`s conviction and incarceration suggest that Pakistan may not be legally required to allow his mother to visit him or indeed grant her a Visa at all, but it ought to be considered on humanitarian grounds," the editorial read.

The daily said a meeting between mother and son would be humane and in no way undermine Pakistan`s case against him.

The Visa application of Jadhav`s mother to visit Pakistan to see her son is pending with the authorities for approval.

"A meeting between mother and son is very different to granting consular access, which is any case being litigated by India in the International Court of Justice," it said.

The daily sees granting of Visa to Jadhav`s mother as a small gesture which can lower the temperature in the overall relationship between India and Pakistan and opening the door to further sensible measures.India, in April this year, had requested Islamabad to facilitate Pakistan visas for Jadhav`s family to meet him.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, earlier on Monday, castigated Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif`s advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz for not entertaining the request for visa to the mother of former naval officer Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged espionage.

Following this, Pakistani Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said they were considering granting a Visa to Jadhav`s mother on Sushma Swaraj`s request.

Jadhav was arrested on March 3 last year from Balochistan allegedly for espionage attributes.

He was later awarded death sentence by a Pakistani military court.

India had then moved the International Court of Justice against the death penalty, which, in its verdict on May 18, had restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav.