FM says Pakistan to present arguments in Kulbhushan Jadhav case to the ICJ on Feb 19

Pakistan will present its arguments in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on February 19, announced Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

Speaking to the media in Manchester, the UK, he said Pakistan’s legal team has prepared its arguments in the case of alleged Indian spy Jadhav.

Pakistan says security forces arrested Jadhav from Balochistan in March, 2016 after he entered the country illegally from Iran. India denies these charges and says he was kidnapped from Iran. India approached the ICJ against Jadhav’s conviction as a spy.

On May 18, 2017, the ICJ ordered Pakistan to stop Jadhav’s execution. “Pakistan should take all measures to ensure that Mr Jadhav is not executed till the final decision of this court,” the ICJ said in its judgment.

In April 2017, Jadhav had been court-martialled and sentenced to death by a military tribunal for espionage and fomenting terrorism in Pakistan.

“The spy has been tried through Field General Court Martial (FGCM) under the Pakistan Army Act (PAA) and awarded the death sentence,” the military’s public affairs wing, ISPR said. The FGCM is the military equivalent of a civilian criminal trial and is conducted by a military tribunal.

The ICJ will hold the public hearings from February 18 to February 21 at The Hague. The first round of oral arguments will take place on February 18, when India will argue from 10am to 1pm. Pakistan will put forth their first round arguments on February 19 from 10am to 1pm.

Qureshi said Jadhav was arrested on Pakistani territory and has confessed during the course of the investigations.

He said 70 years of poor relations between India and Pakistan cannot be fixed in six months.

Speaking about the PTI government, he said the party put their party manifesto in front of the people and that is what they were elected on.

 

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