In another development on the Kulbhushan Jadhav imbroglio, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) directed Pakistan to participate and cooperate in the proceedings on the case filed by India to stop his execution.

In an “urgent communication” to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the President of ICJ Ronny Abraham said that Article 74, paragraph 4, of the Rules of Court stipulates that “pending the meeting of the Court, the President may call upon the parties to act in such a way as will enable any order the Court may make on the request for provisional measures to have its appropriate effects.”

Soon after the ICJ issued the press release, the Pakistani Prime Minister went into a closed-door meeting with his Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz and army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa.

“The matter is under consideration. We will inform the ICJ of the next steps,” a Pakistani official told BusinessLine requesting anonymity.

Hearing on May 15

The ICJ will be holding a verbal public hearing on May 15 where both parties will be asked to make their case. This has happened after India took the rare step of moving the ICJ on May 8 alleging violation of Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

So far India has made 16 requests for consular access to Jadhav to the Pakistani government, all of which have been denied. Pakistan has also not yet responded to the request for visas applied by Jadhav’s family.

India has called the death sentence, which has been given to Jadhav by a Field General Court Martial (FGCM) last month, as a “pre-meditated murder.”

Jadhav is a retired Indian navy officer who has been given death sentence by the military court of Pakistan on charges of espionage. Pakistan has said they have evidence that he is an official with the Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

“India has taken an unprecedented step. But if his life has to be saved then something has to be done. ICJ proceedings take a long time and nothing happens there expeditiously. It remains to be seen how the whole issue turns out to be,” said former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan TCA Raghavan.

Related Topics