NEW DELHI, July 19, 2019 (BSS) – Pakistan will grant consular access to
Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav according to its laws, Pakistan foreign
ministry said in a late night statement.
The ministry also said that Kulbhushan Jadhav had been informed of his
rights under the Vienna Convention on consular relations, Indian channel NDTV
reported from Islamabad this morning.
“Pursuant to the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ)
Kulbhushan Jadhav has been informed of his rights under Article 36, Paragraph
1(b) of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations,” the Pakistan foreign
ministry statement said.
“As a responsible state, Pakistan will grant consular access to Kulbhushan
Jadhav according to Pakistani laws, for which modalities are being worked
out,” it added.
However, India on Thursday called on Pakistan to immediately release
Kulbhushan Jadhav, on death row following his conviction on charges of
espionage, in view of the ICJ ruling, asking for a review of the formal
Indian naval officer’s sentence.
“Jadhav was innocent of the charges leveled against him and a forced
confession without legal representation and due process wouldn’t change this
fact,” said Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar while making a
statement in both houses of parliament yesterday.
He said Jadhav continued remaining in Pakistan’s “illegal custody” after
being sentenced on “fabricated charges”. The ICJ’s judgment is a vindication
for India, Jadhav and all who believe in rule of law, he added.
Besides, Indian external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar
yesterday told a news briefing that India expect that Pakistan to implement
the ICJ directives immediately without any further delay.
He said the verdict went in India’s favour on eight points cited by the
ICJ, either through a unanimous decision or majority decisions by the 16-
judge bench.
Kulbhushan Jadhav, 49, a retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to
death by a Pakistani military court on charges of “espionage and terrorism”
in April 2017 following which India had moved to ICJ, seeking a stay on his
death sentence and further remedies.
A 16-member bench headed by President of the Court Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed
Yusuf, by 15-1 votes ordered Pakistan on Wednesday to undertake an “effective
review and reconsideration” of the conviction and sentence of Kulbhushan
Jadhav and also to grant consular access to India without further delay, the
NDTV reported.
In its 42-page order, the world court while rejecting Pakistan’s objection
to admissibility of the Indian application in the case, held that “a
continued stay of execution constitutes an indispensable condition for the
effective review” of the sentence of Kulbhushan Jadhav, the report said.