Pakistan authorities allowed Indian national  Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav who is sentenced to death for spying to meet his family for the first time since his arrest . Kulbushan Sudhir Jadhav  met with his wife and mother at Pakistan’s foreign ministry in the capital Islamabad, where they spoke through a glass barrier . Ahead of the meeting the Pakistani officials said Jadhav was in good health. In a video released by authorities ahead of the meeting, Jadhav said he was grateful to Pakistan for a “grand gesture.” It was not clear if the video was filmed under duress. However even after the meeting , controversy over the treatment to Jadhav’s family continued.  Allegations of ill-treatment by  Pakistani officials continue to make headlines.

The meeting, which a Pakistan foreign office spokesman said lasted around 40 minutes, is the first time Pakistan has granted access to the family of Jadhav, who was arrested in Balochistan last year. An Indian diplomat was present during the meeting, but was not allowed to talk to Jadhav or listen to the conversation with his family, the foreign ministry spokesman said.

Pakistani officials claim  Jadhav has confessed to spying for Indian intelligence, a charge which India denies. On Monday, the Foreign Office spokesman described him to media as “the face of Indian terrorism in Pakistan.”

Jadhav was found guilty in a closed trial by a military court and sentenced to death. New Delhi  which had sought the intervention of the International Court of Justice,  got reprieve for Jadhav which ordered Pakistan to stay the execution until it passes final judgment in the case.

India has maintained that Jadhav is not a spy, and that he was kidnapped by Pakistan. New Delhi has also accused Islamabad of violating the Vienna Convention by denying consular access.

The two rival nations routinely accuse one another of sending spies into their countries, and it is not uncommon for either nation to expel diplomats accused of espionage, particularly when tensions are high. Death sentences, however, have rarely been carried out in such cases in recent years.

Indian national Sarabjit Singh, on death row for spying in Pakistan, was attacked and killed in jail by fellow inmates in 2013. He had been on death row for 16 years..

Jadhav, who has two children, reportedly joined India’s prestigious National Defense Academy in 1987 and was commissioned as an engineer in the Indian Navy in 1991. The son of a retired police officer, Jadhav’s neighbors remember him as a shy but helpful man who was good at sport and studies, according to media reports.