New Delhi: India said Pakistan has failed to address the core issues in the case relating to death row convict Kulbhushan Jadhav. It pressed for an ‘unimpeded, unconditional and unhindered’ consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav as ordered by an international tribunal. A Pakistani court is in the process of hearing a review petition against his death sentence.
India has been pressing for appointment of an Indian lawyer to represent Jadhav in the case besides seeking unhindered consular access to him as ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in a verdict in 2019.
“Pakistan has failed to respond on core issues pertaining to this case and the core issues are provision of all documents relating to the case and providing unimpeded, unconditional and unhindered consular access to him,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said at a media briefing here Thursday.
Srivastava was asked about Pakistani authorities informing the Islamabad High Court (IHC) Tuesday that India failed to appoint a lawyer to represent Jadhav in the case.
“The core issues need to be addressed if we have to have effective review and reconsideration as ordered by the international court of justice. Pakistan must show its intention to deliver on the core issues,” Srivastava asserted.
Fifty-year-old retired Indian Navy officer Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017.
Weeks later, India approached the ICJ against Pakistan for denial of consular access to him and challenging the death sentence.
The Hague-based ICJ ruled in July 2019 that Pakistan must undertake an ‘effective review and reconsideration’ of the conviction and sentence of Jadhav and also to grant consular access to India without further delay.
In July, India accused Pakistan of adopting a ‘farcical’ approach in denying available legal remedies to Jadhav against his death sentence in contravention of the ICJ order.
The strong reaction had come after Pakistan did not provide documents relating to Jadhav’s case to India so that it could file a review petition in the court against the death sentence. India had also accused Pakistan of blocking all the avenues for an effective remedy available in the case.