'Namaste, but no handshake': MEA joint secretary snubs Pakistan's Attorney General at ICJ

While Ministry of External Affairs joint secretary Deepak Mittal and Pakistan’s Attorney General Anwar Masoor Khan, were exchanging courtesy greetings, the latter reached out to Mittal to shake his hands, but Mittal folded his hands in “Namaste” gesture and did not shake hands.

Deepak Mittal, Joint Secretary, MEA greeted Pakistan's AG Anwar Mansoor Khan with a namaste instead of shaking hands, before the proceedings in Kulbhushan Jadhav case at the International Court of Justice./Image tweeted by ANI

New Delhi: At the International Court of Justice, where India and Pakistan are pitched in a legal battle over Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav’s conviction by Pakistan’s military court, India's agent Deepak Mittal snubbed Pakistani official Anwar Mansoor Khan by declining his handshake gesture. While Ministry of External Affairs joint secretary Deepak Mittal and Pakistan’s Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan, were exchanging courtesy greetings before the beginning of the court's proceedings,  the latter reached out to Mittal to shake his hands, but Mittal folded his hands in “Namaste” gesture and did not shake hands. Anwar Mansoor is leading the Pakistani delegation at the ICJ while Director General South Asia Mohammad Faisal is leading the Foreign Office side. While Kulbhushan Jadhav is being represented at the ICJ by, top lawyer Harish Salve. The top UN court at The Hague is hearing the high-profile Kulbhushan Jadhav case, at a time of escalating tensions between the two neighbouring countries, in the wake of the ghastly terror attack in Kashmir’s Pulwama, which has been claimed by Pakistan based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed. The ICJ has set a timetable for the public hearing in the high-profile case from February 18 to 21 in The Hague. Pakistan’s military court had sentenced Jadhav to death on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017. India had approached the ICJ for "egregious" violation of the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 1963, by Pakistan in Jadhav's case. Pakistan had rejected India's plea for consular access to Jadhav at the ICJ, claiming that New Delhi wants the access to get the information gathered by its "spy".

The Hague (Netherlands): Government of India's agent Deepak Mittal, Joint Secretary, MEA and Pakistan's AG Anwar Mansoor Khan before the proceedings in Kulbhushan Jadhav case at the International Court of Justice. pic.twitter.com/QmZntyMFKG

— ANI (@ANI) February 18, 2019

The Hague (Netherlands): Government of India's agent Deepak Mittal, Joint Secretary, MEA greeted Pakistan's AG Anwar Mansoor Khan with a namaste instead of shaking hands, before the proceedings in Kulbhushan Jadhav case at the International Court of Justice. https://t.co/oADk2lAXnJ

— ANI (@ANI) February 18, 2019