Pakistan Pledges To Implement ICJ Decision In ‘Alleged Spy’ Kulbhushan Jadhav’s Case

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EurAsian Times Desk
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Pakistan will implement the decision of the ICJ in Kulbhushan Jadhav’s case as full and final, say the officials. Pakistani delegates will take part in the oral proceedings of the case from February 18.

Kulbhushan Jadhav Case: Pakistan To File Second Memorial Against India in the ICJ

In April 2017, Pakistani military court sentenced to death Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav on charges of spying and terrorism. Immediately next month, India moved to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against the verdict. A 10-member bench of the International Court of Justice restricted Pakistan from executing Jadhav till adjudication of the case on May 18, 2017.

A senior official informed, “Pakistan’s Attorney General Anwar Man­soor would lead the Pakistani delegation at the ICJ while Director General South Asia Mohammad Faisal would lead the Foreign Office side”.
The ICJ has already decided a timetable for the public hearing in the case from February 18 to 21 in the Hague. In the case, the Indian side will be represented by Harish Salve who is expected to argue first on February 18. The English Queen’s Counsel Khawar Qureshi will make submissions on February 19 from Pakistan’s side. “Then India will reply on February 20 while Islamabad will make its closing submissions on February 21”, said media reports.

It is expected that the ICJ’s decision may be delivered by the summer of 2019.

The Pakistani officials said: “We are fully prepared with our strongest evidence being the valid Indian passport recovered from Commander Jadhav with a Muslim name.”

Responding to a question about Iran, the Pakistani official said the Pakistan government was satisfied with the fact that Iran had no role in Jadhav’s episode though he remained there for some time. “India wants to drag Iran into this dispute but we will not let it happen,” the official added.

Indian Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar did not inform about the details of the case. “The oral proceedings on the International Court of Justice are commencing on February 18. India will present its case before the court. Since the matter is subjudice it is not appropriate for me to state our position in public. Whatever we have to do, we will do at the court,” Kumar said.

Pakistan alleges that on March 3, 2016, its security forces arrested Jadhav from tense Balochistan province. On the other side, India declares that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he travelled for business purpose, after his retirement from Navy. Jadhav’s sentencing had raised a sharp reaction in India. In Jadhav’s case, India had approached the ICJ for Pakistan’s violation of the provisions in the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

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