India finalising details of Kulbhushan Jadhav’s wife and mother’s visit to Pakistan, says official
Islamabad on Thursday directed its High Commission in New Delhi to issue them visas.
India is working on finalising the visit of former navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav’s wife and mother to Pakistan and is consulting the family on the matter, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said. Pakistan had accused Jadhav of espionage. The ministry’s statement came hours after Pakistan directed its High Commission in New Delhi to issue visas to Jadhav’s wife and mother, PTI reported.
Reacting to Pakistan’s decision to reject yet again India’s plea for consular access to Jadhav, Kumar said that New Delhi reiterates its position that “Mr Jadhav remains in Pakistan and is facing a death sentence awarded through a farcical process and concocted charges”.
Pakistan had said on Wednesday that the case involving Jadhav does not come under the purview of the Vienna Convention.
According to the Vienna Convention, the International Court of Justice would have jurisdiction over disputes concerning consular relations, unless the countries have agreed to another forum to resolve disagreements. Pakistan claimed that India did indeed come to an agreement in 2008, under which the countries decided that, in cases related to national security, questions of consular access would be decided on a case-by-case basis internally.
Jadhav was sentenced to death by Pakistan on charges of espionage. In May, the International Court of Justice had stayed Jadhav’s execution and told Pakistan to provide him consular access. He was arrested on March 3, 2016, from Balochistan, after he allegedly entering Pakistan from Iran.