Pak will grant India consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav today

Pakistan on Sunday announced that it will grant consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav on September 2.

Jadhav, 49, will be provided consular access “in line with the Vienna Convention on consular relations, the ICJ judgement and the laws of Pakistan,” Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said, news agency PTI reported.

The retired Indian Navy officer is on death row in Pakistan which has accused him of spying. Earlier, New Delhi had asked Islamabad to provide “unimpeded” contact with the Indian national in response to Islamabad’s conditional offer of consular access that had been conveyed to India.

India maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Navy and has been wrongly framed by Pakistan.

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Last month, the International Court of Justice had ruled that Pakistan had violated Jadhav’s rights under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and sought a review of his death sentence.

The two sides are engaged in sensitive negotiations on consular access in view of the complex diplomatic and legal issues involved. People familiar with developments said Pakistan had attached several conditions to its offer, including the presence of Pakistani officials during a meeting between Jadhav and Indian officials and the use of audio and video devices to record the conversation.

This was the reason why the Indian side had insisted on the meeting being held in an environment free from intimidation and reprisal. This will ensure Jadhav can speak to Indian officials freely and not be afraid of any possible reprisals, they added.

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Jadhav was arrested by Pakistani security agencies in Balochistan in March 2016 and charged with involvement in spying and subversive activities. In April 2017, Pakistan announced he had been given the death sentence by a military court.

India rejected the allegations against Jadhav and said he was kidnapped by Pakistani operatives from the Iranian port of Chabahar, where he was running a business. In May 2017, New Delhi petitioned the ICJ, which stayed Jadhav’s execution. In its ruling on July 17, the ICJ said its stay of the death sentence should continue.