‘Baseless, inaccurate’: Pakistan rejects India’s allegations in Kulbhushan Jadhav case

Pakistan on Sunday rejected top lawyer Harish Salve’s contention that it hadn’t complied with the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) verdict in the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav, and described his allegations as baseless and inaccurate.

Salve, who was India’s lead counsel during the hearing of Jadhav’s case at the ICJ, said during an online lecture on May 3 that Pakistan hasn’t responded to several overtures from the Indian side to free the former naval officer on humanitarian grounds. Salve also said Pakistan has not complied with the court’s ruling to stay Jadhav’s execution and review his conviction.

Foreign Office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui responded on Sunday by saying Pakistan rejects the “baseless and inaccurate” remarks by Salve. She said in a statement that Pakistan has “fully complied” with the ICJ’s judgement.

“We firmly reject the Indian counsel’s baseless and inaccurate assertion that Pakistan has not complied with the ICJ’s judgment in the case. Pakistan has fully complied with the judgment and remains committed to continue doing so as the case proceeds further,” she said.

“Pakistan has granted India consular access to commander Jadhav and is processing measures for effective review and reconsideration as per the guidelines provided by ICJ in its judgment,” she added.

Farooqui said it was “regrettable” that Salve made statements which misrepresent facts”, adding Pakistan had abided by “all its international obligations”.

There was no immediate response to Farooqui’s remarks from Indian officials.

Jadhav was arrested by Pakistani security agencies in Balochistan in March 2016 and charged with involvement in spying. In April 2017, Pakistan announced he had been given the death sentence by a military court.

Salve had also said during the online lection that Pakistan had refused to respond to queries about how it would carry out the ICJ’s ruling to review and reconsider Jadhav’s case. “I think we have reached a point where we have to now decide whether we want to go back to ICJ for consequential directions because Pakistan has not moved ahead,” he had said.

The ICJ ruled in July last year that Pakistan had violated Jadhav’s rights under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and stayed his execution while calling on Islamabad to take all measures for an “effective review and reconsideration” of his conviction and sentence, including “enacting appropriate legislation”.

India has rejected the allegations against Jadhav and said he was kidnapped by Pakistani operatives from the Iranian port of Chabahar, where he was running a business. Pakistan has so far granted consular access to Jadhav only once since his arrest in 2016.