Jadhav has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism…reports Asian Lite News
India has called upon Pakistan to comply with the judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in Kulbhushan Jadhav’s case, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in a media briefing on Thursday.
Speaking over the case and the Pakistan bill providing for right of appeal to Jadhav, Bagchi said, “We call upon Pakistan to take appropriate steps to address the shortcoming in the Bill (ICJ (Review and Reconsideration) Bill, 2020 passed by Pakistan National Assembly) and to comply with the judgements of the ICJ in letter and spirit.”
He said the municipal court cannot be the arbiter of whether the State has fulfilled its obligation under international law.
Jadhav (50), a retired Indian Navy officer was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017.
Subsequently, India approached the ICJ against Pakistan for denial of consular access to Jadhav and challenging the death sentence.
In July 2019, The Hague-based ICJ ruled that Pakistan must undertake an “effective review and reconsideration” of the conviction and sentence of Jadhav and also grant consular access to India without further delay.
Asked about the India-Pakistan cross-border terrorism, the MEA Spokesperson reiterated New Delhi’s stance that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and any kind of cross-border terrorism is unacceptable. Both sides (India and Pakistan) have cleared all pending assignment visas yesterday, he said. (INN)
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