Pakistan will be grant consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav on August 2

Islamabad
Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is on death row in Pakistan, will be granted consular access by 2nd August, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal said on 1st August. Jadhav, 49, a retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of “espionage and terrorism” in April 2017 following which India had moved the International Court of Justice (ICJ), seeking a stay on his death sentence and further remedies.

“Pakistan is awaiting Indian response after it formally informed the Indian High Commission here,” Faisal said at the weekly media briefing.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson, Raveesh Kumar, while confirming the development, said that India will respond to Pakistan’s proposal through diplomatic channels. “I can only tell you that we have received a proposal from Pakistan. We are evaluating the proposal in the light of the judgement of ICJ. We will maintain communication with Pakistan diplomatically in this matter,” Kumar said while addressing the media.

The move comes two weeks after the ICJ ordered Pakistan on July 17 to 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 its 42-page ruling, the ICJ ruled that Pakistan had “breached” the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations, which gives countries the right to consular access when their nationals are arrested abroad. Pakistan claims that its security forces arrested Jadhav from restive Balochistan province on 3rd March, 2016 after he reportedly entered from Iran. However, India maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Navy.