Pakistan Says In Contact With India On Granting Consular Access To Kulbhushan Jadhav

On July 17, the ICJ ordered Pakistan 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.

Kulbhushan Jadhav

New Delhi: Pakistan on Thursday said that it is in contact with India over providing consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav , nearly six weeks after it promised consular access to the Indian national. At a media briefing, Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammed Faisal said that Pakistan and India were in contact on the "issue of granting consular access" to Jadhav. The Foreign Office had said on August 1 that Jadhav would be given consular access the next day. However, the key meeting for it could not materialize amid differences between the two countries on the terms of the consular access. Jadhav, 49, 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. On July 17, the ICJ ordered Pakistan 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. One of the conditions put by Pakistan reportedly was the presence of a Pakistani official when Jadhav is allowed to meet Indian officials as part of the consular access. India did not agree to the condition, making clear its position that the consular access must be "unimpeded" and should be in the light of the judgement by the ICJ. Pakistan claims that its security forces arrested Jadhav from the restive Balochistan province on March 3, 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.