A heavy security blanket was thrown around Constitutional Avenue that houses the Pakistan government's main buildings, including its Foreign Office, as former India Naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother Avanti and wife Chetana Jadhav arrived in Islamabad. Tension rose by the minute both inside and outside FO, even as Pakistani officials went on an overdrive to make the meeting a media spectacle.
Police and paramilitary forces were deployed to deal with any untoward situation. Pakistani officials looked inspired by the script of Karun Anshuman's recently released fiction Kashmir Nama that is about an Indian spy's escape in the heart of Islamabad after the Taliban accidentally targeted a convoy transporting him for interrogation.
A convoy of seven vehicles escorting Jadhav's family accompanied by Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh and a Pakistani female official arrived at the Pakistan Foreign Office building around 2 pm. The family had landed in Islamabad via Dubai around noon and as it drove from the airport, traffic was blocked on the road.
It was straightaway taken to the Indian High Commission, where it spent half an hour.
At around 2 pm, it entered the ministry building's main Agha Shahi Block. After the meeting, they once again headed to the Indian High Commission, before moving to the airport for the return journey.
As the family entered the building, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal took to Twitter, posting pictures and details of the meeting.
While there was shock in India to see the meeting taking place across a glass screen and the women talking to Jadhav via an intercom, Faisal said settings of the meeting had been decided with Indian diplomats.
He said the outline had been conveyed to Indian officials that a screen would be placed between the prisoner and his relatives. He claimed that the Indian government had acknowledged the communication a few days ago. Pakistani media also reported that the two women, who travelled from Mumbai, had also brought a gift for the prisoner and handed it over to Pakistani officials.
Pakistani diplomats said, it will be handed over to Jadhav after following proper procedures. The wife and the mother greeted mediapersons with a namaste after arriving at the ministry but did not respond to their questions.
Once the meeting was over, there was visible tension in the air. Pakistani officials didn't allow the vehicle to come to the porch to allow the women to board. This angered Indian Deputy High Commissioner, who was seen having a word with a security official. But as it appeared, it was in the scheme of Pakistani officials, who wanted camerapersons sitting at a distance to take full view of the mother and wife duo walking out of the building. The vehicle, if parked, would have blocked the view. Jadhav was already at the ministry before his family arrived. But it was not known where he had been kept before being transported to the Foreign Office.
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