Pak says case against India on Kulbhushan Jadhav's conviction strong

Islamabad, Jul 19: Pakistan said that its case was "very strong" in the ICJ on the conviction of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav who was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism.

India had moved the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in May last year after Jadhav, 48, was sentenced to death. A 10-member bench of the ICJ on May 18, 2017 had restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav till adjudication of the case.

In its written pleadings, India had accused Pakistan of violating the Vienna Convention by not giving consular access to Jadhav arguing that the convention did not say that such access would not be available to an individual arrested on espionage charges.

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal said at his weekly briefing that the submissions of both sides in the ICJ have completed and now the formal hearing will begin. His comments came two days after Pakistan filed its second written reply to India's arguments in the ICJ in the case.

"Our case against India, regarding Jadhav, at the ICJ is very strong. He was caught red-handed on our soil, being involved in espionage, subversive and terrorist activities," Faisal claimed. He said Pakistan dealt with the case in a transparent manner but India was "unable or unwilling" to provide answers to many key questions regarding Jadhav, including a different name of his passport.

Pakistan claims that its security forces arrested Jadhav from restive Balochistan province on March 3, 2016 after he reportedly entered from Iran. However, India maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Navy. Jadhav's sentencing had evoked a sharp reaction in India.

Speaking about Kashmir, he said that the report of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has "greatly upset the Indian efforts to project that all is well" in Kashmir.

PTI