Kulbhushan Jadhav hearing: India objects to language used by Pakistan at ICJ

Hague, Feb 20: Taking a strong exception to the language used by Pakistan in ICJ, Senior advocate Harish Salve, who is representing India at the international court in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case, on Wednesday said that Pakistan is not strong either on the law or the facts.

Today is the third day of hearing at the ICJ headquarters on the Kulbhushan Jadhav case. The four-day trial began on Monday. India will have a maximum of 90 minutes to make its second round of submissions.

"India believes we have a strong case. When you are strong on the law you hammer the law, when you are strong on facts you hammer facts. And when you have neither you hammer the table. Pakistan has hammered the proverbial table," Salve said at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague in The Netherlands.

He also objected to the language used by Pakistan, saying that the word 'shameless' was used at least 5 times.

On Monday, putting forth a strong argument at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), India sought annulment of Jadhav's conviction and a direction that he be released from custody.

While putting forth India's strong objection to treatment meted out to Jadhav, Salve argued at length explaining how Pakistan has been trying to build a narrative against India by using Jadhav.

On the first day of the four-day public hearing at Hague in Neatherlands, Salve also said that India has always offered consular access to Pakistan, even when people were caught red-handed in acts of terror.

Article 36 of Vienna Convention requires that a country must be informed about the detention of its citizens but Pakistan didn't inform India on Kulbhushan Jadhav's "arrest", said Harish Salve said on Monday at UN court.

According to Article 36 of the Vienna Convention, consular access must be given before the trial is over. India wasn't granted consular access in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case even though India made multiple requests, said Harish Salve.

India took Pakistan to the world court on the grounds that Islamabad violated the Vienna Convention by denying consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav. Pakistan countered it with another argument questioning the jurisdiction of the ICJ in a case that involves, according to Pakistan, a spy. It added that India and Pakistan have a bilateral agreement whereby consular access can be denied to those caught in acts of espionage.