Daily Times

Pakistan said on Thursday that consular access will be granted to Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been awarded death sentence on the charges of espionage and terrorism in Pakistan.

A military court had handed down death penalty to Jadhav in 2017 for spying and terrorism in Balochistan, which was later confirmed by Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Wednesday asked Pakistan to review its decision and also grant consular access to Jadhav.

The ICJ had rejected the Pakistan military court proceedings’ annulment pray by India.

Besides, requests for a trial through civil court, acquittal, retrial and release were also rejected, meaning that Jadhav would stay in Pakistan’s custody.

“Pursuant to the decision of the ICJ, Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav has been informed of his rights under Article 36, Paragraph 1(b) of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. As a responsible state, Pakistan will grant consular access to Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav according to Pakistani laws, for which modalities are being worked out,” the Foreign Office said on Thursday in a statement.

Hours after the ICJ delivered its verdict on Wednesday, Pakistan said it “will now proceed as per law”. The military had stated earlier that Jadhav, who was living as Hussein Mubarak Patel, was arrested on March 3, 2016 through a counter-intelligence operation from Balochistan’s Mashkel area.

“Pakistan, as a responsible member of the international community, upheld its commitment from the very beginning of the case by appearing before the honorable court for the provisional measures hearing despite a very short notice. Having heard the judgement, Pakistan will now proceed as per law,” the Foreign Ministry had said in a statement on Wednesday.

The statement reiterated that Jadhav entered Pakistan without a visa on authentic Indian passport with a fake alias.

“Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav is responsible for acts of sabotage, espionage and multiple terrorist incidents in which scores of innocent Pakistani citizens were killed, resulting into umpteen women being widowed and numerous children becoming orphans,” the statement said.

It said Jadhav had confessed to all those acts during his trial in Pakistani court in front of a judicial magistrate. “This is a clear case of Indian state terrorism.”