New Delhi, Sep 2 (UNI) Making a modest forward movement in bilateral ties amid chill over Jammu and Kashmir issue especially after the Modi government abrogated Article 370, India on Monday accepted Pakistani offer accepted Islamabad’s offer of consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav. The source said here that Indian Charge d’ Affaires in Pakistan, Gaurav Ahluwalia, will be meeting Jadhav later in the day.
“The matter of denial of consular access was taken to International Court of Justice (ICJ) by India. The court gave a unanimous decision in favour of India,” the source said. “We hope that the Pakistan will ensure right atmosphere so that the meeting is free, fair, meaningful and effective in keeping with the letter and spirit of the ICJ orders,” the source maintained. The developments related to Jadhav are significant as Indian parliamentary delegation and their Pakistani counterparts on Sunday clashed fiercely at the Maldives capital Male during a Speakers’ Conference on Sustainable Development Goals. Mr Jadhav, reported to have been arrested in March 2016 from Pakistan’s restive province of Balochistan or lifted from Iran, has been accused of terrorism and spying. He was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in 2017.
On July 17 in a major development, the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) had ruled that Jadhav’s death sentence awarded by the Pakistani military court should remain suspended.In what was seen as a victory for India, the court also had directed Pakistan to review and reconsider the death sentence awarded to Jadhav under the provisions of the 1963 Vienna Convention and said that he should be given consular access. The ICJ held that Pakistan had breached Art 36 (1) of Vienna Convention by denying consular access to him. ”Jadhav’s death sentence should remain suspended until Pakistan effectively reviews and reconsiders the conviction or sentence in light of Pakistan’s breach of Article 36 (1), that is, denial of consular access and notification.” On August 1, Pakistani authorities said they would grant consular access to the 49-year old Indian. But on August 2, New Delhi asked Islamabad to provide ‘unimpeded and intimidation free’ consular access to Jadhav.
“Pakistan has been asked to provide unimpeded consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav in an atmosphere free of intimidation and reprisal in the light of the orders of the International Court of Justice,” a source has said here. After a month on September 1, Pakistan renewed their offer to grant consular access to Jadhav, whom India has described as innocent. In its written pleadings, India has also accused that the Pakistan military court trial on Jadhav was “farcical”.
It may be mentioned in December 2017, Kulbhushan Jadhav was allowed by Pakistan to meet his wife and mother but later on MEA in Delhi said it appeared Jadhav was ”under considerable stress” and ”speaking in an atmosphere of coercion”. ”The Pakistani side conducted the meeting in a manner that violated the letter and spirit of our understandings,” the MEA had said in 2017. Sources said Jadhav was also denied the right to be defended by a legal counsel of his choice. His conviction and death sentence is based on ”confessions” taken in captivity.
