Islamabad: A senior Indian diplomat on Monday met Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is on death row in Pakistan after Islamabad granted consular access to the Indian prisoner in line with the ICJ judgement. The meeting between a senior Indian diplomat and the convicted Indian spy is currently underway after Pakistan formally granted the consular access to him in line with the decision of International Court of Justice.
However, it did not identify the Indian diplomat who met the retired Indian Navy officer. The venue of the meeting is not immediately known. In New Delhi, official sources said Charge d’ Affaires at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad Gaurav Ahluwalia will meet Jadhav. The meeting came a month after a similar interaction between Indian officials and Jadhav did not materialise amid differences between New Delhi and Islamabad on the terms of the consular access to the retired Indian navy officer.
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 Sunday, Foreign Office Spokesman Mohammad Faisal tweeted that consular access for Kulbhushan Jadhav will be provided on 2 September in line with Vienna Convention on Consular relations, ICJ judgement & the laws of Pakistan.
Jadhav, a retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017. Weeks later, India approached the ICJ against Pakistan for denial of consular access to Jadhav and to challenge the death sentence.
In its verdict in the case on 17 July, the ICJ ordered Pakistan to undertake an effective review of the conviction and sentence of Jadhav and asked it to grant consular access to him without further delay. The matter of denial of consular access was taken to ICJ by India. The court gave a unanimous decision in favour of India. Today, after victory in the ICJ, India will be proceeding for consular access to Jadhav, said the source.
