Pakistan can grant immediate consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav acting upon the multiple pending requests from India, said a diplomatic source.
The comment came a day after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague pointed out in its verdict that Pakistan violated the Vienna Convention by not granting consular access to the former Indian Navy official who had been given the death sentence by a Pakistani military court in 2017.
“Pakistan already has several formal requests from us regarding consular access to Jadhav. We hope they act on these requests now without delay,” said the source, indicating that there is no need for a fresh request from India for getting access to him.
India made several submissions to Pakistan for allowing Indian officials to visit Jadhav in custody that did not get a positive response from Islamabad till the ICJ verdict. The source said that a Pakistani response to the pending requests would be desirable as further delay in this matter was not acceptable given the majority verdict at the ICJ.
Watch: Kulbhushan Jadhav verdict | What now for India and Pakistan
Earlier, reiterating the official position of India, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Raveesh Kumar said at the weekly briefing that Pakistan should comply to the ICJ directive and provide consular access to Jadhav without “any further delay”.
The ICJ, in its 42-page verdict on July 17, instructed Pakistan not to carry out the death sentence handed to Jadhav and urged Islamabad to review and reconsider the sentence. “Islamic Republic of Pakistan deprived the Republic of India of the right to communicate with and have access to Mr. Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav, to visit him in detention and to arrange for his legal representation, and thereby breached the obligations incumbent upon it under Article 36, paragraph 1 (a) and (c), of the Vienna Convention,” said the ICJ in a press release following the verdict.
India’s lead counsel had Harish Salve stated on Wednesday that he expected Pakistani lawyers to defend Jadhav in the court of law in Pakistan.
Pakistan maintained that Jadhav did not carry his authentic Indian passport while entering its territory and alleged that he carried a fake travel document that depicted his name as ‘Hussain Mubarak Patel’ and that he was responsible for acts of sabotage inside Pakistan.
In response, Mr. Kumar on Thursday said it was time for Pakistan “to act” and help Indian consular officers to go and meet Jadhav, who has not been seen for months. He was last seen in December 2017 when his mother and wife travelled to Pakistan to see him at the time of Christmas.
