ISLAMABAD: India has demanded it be given “unimpeded” consular access to an alleged spy being held on death row in Pakistan.
Moves to get a private meeting with Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian national convicted on charges of espionage and terrorism, follow a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on July 17 ordering Pakistan to review the death sentence passed down on the 49-year-old retired Indian Navy officer.
The Indian government rejected a Pakistani offer to allow consular access to Jadhav on the condition that local officials were present at the meeting.
According to Indian media reports on Friday, New Delhi had asked Pakistan’s foreign office for “unimpeded” access to Jadhav free from “intimidation and reprisal.”
A spokesperson for the High Commission of India in Islamabad told Arab News: “We are in contact with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan on this issue, nothing more to add.”
Earlier, Raveesh Kumar, spokesperson for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said: “We have received a proposal from Pakistan. We are evaluating the proposal in the light of the ICJ judgement. We will maintain communication with Pakistan in this matter through diplomatic channels.
“We cannot discuss the modalities. We will assess and evaluate the conditions laid down, keeping in mind the ICJ ruling, and then respond accordingly. Whatever response is to be sent, will be given by us timely through diplomatic channels.”
Jadhav has been in Islamabad’s custody since March 2016 after being arrested during a counter-intelligence operation in Balochistan.
Pakistan’s former High Commissioner to India, Abdul Basit, told Arab News that Jadhav’s was a high-profile case so “modalities of consular access have to be decided prior to the meeting.” He said it looked “difficult” for the meeting to take place on Friday.
He added that whenever India granted consular access to a Pakistani prisoner, Indian officials were always present. “Pakistan would like to have its official in the meeting, but India will ask for private access.”
Basit said consular access was at the discretion of the Pakistani government but multiple visits could be granted.
He noted that prior to the ICJ’s ruling, India had made 17 requests to Pakistan for consular access to Jadhav. “Pakistan agreed to provide it on the condition of provision of information required about certain individuals revealed by Jadhav in his confessional statement, but India refused.”
Ahmer Bilal Soofi, an Islamabad-based expert on International law, told Arab News: “Pakistan is complying with the judgment of the ICJ as a responsible state by fulfilling the directions of the court which include giving consular access.”
He added: “The review (of the death sentence) could be done by the appellant court or the high court in exercise of writ petition or it could also be a special bench.” On Jadhav’s representation in a review court he said: “The lawyer should be a Pakistani national, because under the Pakistan Bar Council’s rules no foreign lawyer can appear before the Pakistani court.”
In its July 17 verdict, following two years of deliberations, the ICJ asked Pakistan to provide consular access to Jadhav under the terms of the Vienna Convention, although it rejected an Indian request for his acquittal, release and return.
The following week, the Pakistani foreign office announced it would grant consular access to Jadhav according to the country’s laws, for which the modalities were being worked out. The statement added that Jadhav had been informed of his rights.
Jadhav was arrested on March 3, 2016 and given a death sentence on April 10, 2017 by a military court in Pakistan. India approached the UN’s top court in May 2017 claiming Pakistan had denied it access to Jadhav.
