ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has decided to appoint an ad-hoc judge in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) panel two months before the start of hearing in convicted spy Khulbhushan Jadhav case, foreign ministry officials said.
Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf has informed the ICJ chief justice about the decision in a meeting over which he expressed his approval.
The Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) agent was sentenced to death in April by a military court.
The trial against Jhadav was conducted under the Pakistan Army Act 1952 and Official Secret Act of 1923.
He was found guilty of terrorism and espionage.
India however, claimed he was kidnapped from Iran last year.
India later approached the ICJ to stop Jadhav’s execution.
The ICJ granted a stay until a final verdict.
Pakistan has been raising objections on the ICJ’s jurisdiction to hear Jadhav’s case as it was linked to Pakistan’s security.
Tension between the nuclear-armed neighbours has been running high since July, when the Indian forces killed Kashmiri freedom fighter Burhan Wani.
The occupant forces also killed dozens of protesters to quell the following agitation.
Tensions rose further, when India claimed Pakistan had allegedly orchestrated the Uri attack, which inflicted the heaviest toll on the Indian army in a single incident in 14 years. Nineteen soldiers were killed in the strike. Pakistan vehemently denied any link.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi attended the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Kazakhstan but did not hold a bilateral meeting.
They were content with a handshake and exchange of pleasantries.
