Too little, too late: Salman Khurshid on Kulbhushan's meet with wife

Senior advocate and Congress leader Salman Khurshid on Friday welcomed the decision of Pakistan to arrange a meeting of Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav with his wife, but called it "too little, too late".

"It is welcome. I think it will bring to the family great deal of comfort but it is too little, too late," Khurshid told ANI.

The Pakistan Government, who arrested Jadhav over charges of alleged involvement in espionage activities for India's intelligence agency - the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), decided to arrange a meeting with his wife, purely on humanitarian grounds.

Khurshid said it will be too soon to judge the decision and its consequences.

"I wouldn't draw very dramatic conclusions from this. Let us see. Let the meeting happen. We will get some feedback and some briefing after the meeting. We will be in a better position to judge if some more information comes through," the former minister said.

Refuting Pakistan's spying charges, India has always maintained that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Indian Navy. Khurshid expressed suspicions on the intentions of Pakistan and said its alienation from the rest of the world might be a reason behind this humanitarian gesture.

"Pakistan does feel a sense of humanness in humanity. But it might be just a clear strategy. Now that they are against the world. They are getting cornered. Attitudes in the U.S. have dramatically changed and shifted. I think they have few friends left because of their conduct and behavior and they may be doing some damage control," Khurshid said.

"But either way whatever it is, whatever be the reason, it is a good thing that family has some comfort," he added.

On April 10, 2017, Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Field General Court Martial (FGCM) in Pakistan.

On May 18, 2017, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) stayed the hanging, after India approached it against the death sentence.