Kulbhushan Jadhav case: Pakistan has failed to address core issues in implementing ICJ judgment, says MEA

New Delhi: India on Friday said that Pakistan has consistently failed to address core issues in the implementation of ICJ judgment in Kulbhushan Jadhav case. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said in a virtual media briefing that Pakistan has failed to provide unimpeded consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav in “letter and spirit”. “These issues pertain to the provision of relevant documents as well as providing unimpeded consular access to Kulbhushan,” he said. Earlier this month, Islamabad High Court (IHC) had formed a larger bench to hear the case of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is facing a death sentence in Pakistan. Geo News had reported that the larger bench, comprising IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justices Amir Farooq and Mian Gull Hassan Aurangzeb, was formed on Friday and it will hear the case on 3 September. The decision came after India continued to pressurise Pakistan into allowing consular access to Jadhav. Pakistan media had reported earlier that Islamabad Court has said Indian officials should be given an opportunity to present their stance. India had said that it had not received any communication from Pakistan government. India has also said that Pakistan has blocked all avenues for effective remedy available to it in the case. Pakistan claims that Jadhav was arrested from Balochistan in 2016 on charges of espionage. India has rejected Pakistan’s allegations and said he was kidnapped from the Iranian port of Chabahar. In early 2017, a Pakistani military court sentenced him to death. The International Court of Justice upheld India’s claim that Pakistan has committed an egregious violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations on several counts.