MANCHESTER - Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Thursday said Pakistan will present a strong case against Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at a hearing scheduled for later this month.
Addressing a reception in Manchester, Qureshi said that, “Pakistan has all the evidence against Jadhav of sabotage activities inside Pakistan.
Jadhav has admitted to being involved in such activities.”
“Pakistan’s legal team will present its stance in the case at The Hague on the 19th of this month,” he added.
The ICJ, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, will hold public hearings in the Jadhav case from February 18 to 21 at the Peace Palace in The Hague.
India had moved the ICJ against the case, after Jadhav — an on-duty Indian Navy officer — was arrested and sentenced to death by Pakistan for espionage and subversive activities last year. India had submitted its pleadings to the ICJ on September 13, 2017.
The Indian stance was dismissed by Pakistan in its counter-pleadings. In its counter-memorial, Pakistan had stated that Jadhav is not an ordinary person as he had entered the country with the intent of spying and carrying out sabotage activities. The reply also stated that Jadhav, who was a serving officer of the Indian Navy, does not fall under the purview of the Vienna Convention.
PAKISTAN, INDIA AGREE ON TEAM VISITS
Following a minor row over the venue of talks on Kartarpur Corridor Accord, Pakistan and India finally agreed on reciprocal visits of their officials to clinch the historic agreement.
As per details, a Pakistani delegation will travel to Delhi on March 13 for initiating the process of negotiations over the accord.
“We welcome the visit of Pakistani team to discuss and finalise modalities for facilitating visit of pilgrims through Kartarpur Sahib Corridor on March 13 2019 to India. Follow up meeting can be held in Pakistan, as required,” Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar tweeted.
The tweet of the Indian official came almost an hour after a tweet by his Pakistani counterpart, Dr Muhammad Faisal, who proposed a visit to India in March for talks before finalising the accord on March 28.
“In a spirit of constructive engagement Pakistan has proposed to India that the Pakistan delegation may visit India on March 13 followed by the return visit of the Indian delegation to Pakistan on March 28 to finalise the draft agreement for the Kartarpur corridor,” Foreign Office spokesman Dr Muhammad Faisal said on Twitter.
He further hoped for a positive reciprocity from India.
It is worth mentioning here that Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone of Kartarpur Corridor Project on Nov 28, 2018.