Pakistan on Wednesday rejected India’s plea for consular access to death row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav at the ICJ, claiming that New Delhi wants to get the information gathered by its “spy”.
In its counter-memorial submitted to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Pakistan said the provision of such an access under the Vienna Convention is only for legitimate visitors and not for spies, the Express Tribune reported.
Pakistan said that Jadhav is not an ordinary person as he had entered the country with the intent of spying and carrying out sabotage activities.
Jadhav, 47, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April, following which India moved the ICJ in May. The ICJ halted his execution on India’s appeal pending the final verdict by it.
Citing its sources, the paper said Pakistan has stated that “the Indians have not denied that Jadhav was travelling on a passport with an assumed Muslim name.”
“Lack of explanation on how a serving naval commander was operating under secondment to Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) was travelling under an assumed name leads to only one conclusion that India wanted consular access to the information he had gathered,” said the counter memorial submitted by Pakistan, according to the paper.
The reply encompasses the chargesheet against Jadhav and narrates Pakistan’s stance in a comprehensive manner.
Pakistan has repeatedly denied India consular access to Jadhav on the ground that it was not applicable in cases related to spies.
Pakistan claims its security forces arrested Jadhav alias Hussein Mubarak Patel from restive Balochistan province on March 3 last year after he reportedly entered from Iran.
India, however, maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Navy.