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After ICJ rap, Pakistan agrees to grant consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav ‘as per its laws’

In a statement released post-midnight, the Pakistan foreign office said it has informed Jadhav of his rights to consular access under the Vienna Convention.

After ICJ rap, Pakistan agrees to grant consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav ‘as per its laws’

Friends of Kulbhushan Jadhav pray for his release. (File Photo: IANS)

Acting on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling, Pakistan has agreed to grant consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav “according to Pakistani laws”, the Pakistan Foreign Office said.

In a statement released post-midnight, the Pakistan foreign office said it has informed Jadhav of his rights to consular access under the Vienna Convention.

However, the statement said that Pakistan will grant consular access to Jadhav “according to Pakistani laws”.

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“As a responsible state, Pakistan will grant consular access to Commander Kulbushan Jadhav according to Pakistani laws, for which modalities are being worked out,” it said.

The move came a day after ICJ directed Pakistan to grant consular access to Jadhav “without further delay” while holding that it had “breached” the Vienna Convention in this regard by denying him this right.

The world court had also ordered Pakistan not to execute Kulbhushan Jadhav and directed “effective review and reconsideration” of his conviction and the sentence awarded to him by a military court.

Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer, was on a death row in Pakistan on charges of spying for RAW.

The ICJ gave a detailed verdict on Wednesday, rejecting all the objections of Pakistan, including one unanimously on the admissibility of the case and also the claims by Islamabad that India had not provided the actual nationality of Jadhav.

The verdict was 15 to one in favour of India – the lone dissenter being from Pakistan.

It ordered, “a continued stay of execution” on Kulbhushan Jadhav, saying it “constitutes an indispensable condition for the effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence” of the accused.

It said it “finds that the appropriate reparation in this case consists in the obligation of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to provide, by the means of its own choosing, effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence of Mr. Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav, so as to ensure that full weight is given to the effect of the violation of the rights set forth” in the Vienna Convention on consular access.

Pakistan had on Wednesday sought to give its own spin to the judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case, saying the Hague-based Court has decided not to acquit/release him, thus not accepting India’s plea.

“Pakistan, as a responsible member of the International community, upheld its commitment from the very beginning of the case by appearing before the honourable court for the provisional measures hearing despite a very short notice. Having heard the judgment, Pakistan will now proceed as per law,” the Pakistan foreign office said in a statement.

Islamabad once again claimed that Jadhav was an Indian Navy Commander who entered Pakistan without a visa on an authentic Indian passport with a fake alias Hussain Mubarak Patel.

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