India's Charge d'affaires Gaurav Ahluwalia met Kulbhushan Jadhav who is lodged in a Pakistani jail over charges of espionage

New Delhi: India accepted Pakistan's offer for consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav. India's Charge d'affaires Gaurav Ahluwalia reached Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and met Kulbhushan Jadhav, agencies reported. "We hope that Pakistan will ensure the right atmosphere so that the meeting is free, fair, meaningful and effective in keeping with the letter and spirit of the ICJ's orders," news agency ANI reported citing government sources.

India has maintained that Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer was illegally abducted by Pakistan from Iran. He was sentenced to death on charges of espionage and terrorism by a military court in April 2017. India challenged the decision in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. The ICJ brought a stay of Jadhav's execution and asked Pakistan to review the death sentence awarded to him.

The court also accepted India's argument and asked Pakistan to comply by the Vienna convention and asked Pakistan to provide consular access to Jadhav.

While Pakistan responded saying that it was willing to offer consular access to Jadhav, India was unhappy with the conditions put by Islamabad which New Delhi felt violated the Vienna convention. India agreed to meet Jadhav after Pakistan altered the conditions as per the Vienna convention.