If Pakistan is unable to quash Jadhav’s death sentence, Islamabad should be found in violation of international law and treaties, and be told to ‘release the convicted Indian national forthwith’, India said.
(File Photo)
India will ask the UN’s top court on Monday to order Pakistan to take Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, accused of espionage, off death row amid tensions over the recent Pulwama terror attack.
Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav was arrested in the restive southwestern Pakistani province of Baluchistan in March 2016 on charges of espionage and sentenced to death by a military court.
The International Court of Justice urgently ordered Pakistan in 2017 to stay the execution of Jadhav, pending hearings on the broader Indian case that take place this week in The Hague.
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The rare foray into the international court for the nuclear-armed rivals could be another flashpoint after Thursday’s suicide bombing in Pulwama that left at least 44 CRPF personnel dead and over 45 seriously injured.
Indian lawyers will present their arguments on Monday to the court, which was set up after World War II to resolve international disputes, followed by Pakistan’s on Tuesday.
Kulbhushan Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer, was accused of working for the Indian intelligence services in the province bordering Afghanistan, where Islamabad has long accused India of backing separatist rebels.
After a closed trial he was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on April 10, 2017, on charges of “espionage, sabotage and terrorism”.
India insists Jadhav was not a spy, and that he was kidnapped in Pakistan. New Delhi in court documents is asking that the ICJ order Islamabad to annul the sentence.
It accused Islamabad of violating the Vienna Convention by failing to provide him with consular access, as well as breaking human rights law.
If Pakistan is unable to quash Jadhav’s death sentence, Islamabad should be found in violation of international law and treaties, and be told to “release the convicted Indian national forthwith”, India said.
India accused Pakistan in 2017 of harassing Jadhav’s family during a visit, saying their meeting was held in an “atmosphere of coercion”.
Islamabad reacted coolly to the ICJ’s urgent order to stay Jadhav’s execution at the time, saying it “has not changed the status of commander Jadhav’s case in any manner”.
The ICJ’s decision will likely come months after this week’s hearings.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday warned the perpetrators of the Pulwama terror attack and those who harbour terrorist groups that they will pay a very heavy price for the “grave mistake”.
Read | You will pay a heavy price for Pulwama attack: PM Modi tells terror groups, Pakistan
Condemning the terror attack, the PM said that security forces have been given the full freedom to retaliate against the attack.
In a warning to Pakistan, PM Modi said the nefarious dreams of our neighbour will never be fulfilled.
A suicide bomber had rammed an SUV carrying 350 kg of explosives into a bus carrying the CRPF troopers in the deadliest attack in decades on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) had claimed responsibility for the suicide attack.
“Oral proceedings in the Jadhav case will commence on 18 February. India will present its case. Since the matter is sub-judice, it would not be appropriate to state our position in public,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had said at a press briefing.
(With inputs from AFP)
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