ISLAMABAD – Complying with the verdict of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Pakistan has formally approached the Indian government with an offer to grant consular access to Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav.
Detailing the offer at his weekly press briefing on Tuesday, Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal said work was being done on granting consular access to Jadhav in accordance with last month’s decision of the International Court of Justice.
Dr Faisal said India was informed that Jadhav could be granted consular access on August 2 (tomorrow).
On the other hand, Indian foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar confirmed that they had received a proposal from Pakistan and were evaluating the proposal in the light of [the] ICJ judgment.
Kumar said India will maintain communication with Pakistan in this matter through diplomatic channels and added that he would not use this [media interaction] forum to dish out further details on the matter.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/icj-to-decide-fate-of-indian-spy-kulbhushan-jadhav-tomorrow/
ICJ had, on July 17, rejected India’s request for acquittal, release and return of Commander Jadhav. However, the court asked Pakistan to provide consular access to him under the Vienna Convention.
After the verdict, Pakistan had announced that as a responsible state it would grant consular access to Jadhav according to the country’s laws.
In its verdict, the UN’s judicial organ did not accept India’s argument that Jadhav was entitled to ‘restitutio in integrum’ (restoration to original position), rejecting New Delhi’s request to annul the decision of a military court.
Jadhav was arrested on March 3, 2016, in a counter-intelligence operation in Pakistan’s land-wise biggest province, Balochistan.
A Pakistani military court awarded him death sentence in 2017. However, ICJ stayed his execution.
