Islamabad: Pakistan has granted India consular access to two Indian nationals who were arrested from Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and charged with espionage in 2020, following which a meeting took place between them and Indian diplomats this week, IANS reported quoting sources.
Though no statement was issued by the Pakistan foreign office, the sources confirmed the development, saying that the Indian nationals, identified as Feroze Ahmad Lone and Noor Muhammad Wani, belong to the Gurez area in Kashmir, and were recently moved from the Gilgit-Baltistan prison to Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail.
Sharing details of the meeting, the sources confirmed that a three-member delegation of the Indian High Commission (IHC) in Islamabad met the two prisoners in Adiala jail, adding that officials of Pakistan Interior Ministry were also present during the meeting.
Indian media reports maintain that both Indian nationals had mistakenly crossed the border in November 2018. In the past, Kulbushan Jadhav, another Indian national, was arrested by Pakistan in 2016 and sentenced to death by a military court on charges of espionage and terrorist activities. He was denied consular access despite repeated requests by India.
Later, India took the matter to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which directed Islamabad to grant consular access to Kulbushan Jadhav, voided his death sentence, and directed Pakistan to put Jadhav on trial in a civil court.
