Pakistan offers India third consular access to spy Kulbhushan Jadhav

ISLAMABAD : Indian spy and agent of intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was involved in several terrorist activities in Pakistan, will be granted third consular access. According to details, Indian government has been officially informed on Friday about the third access.The development comes a day after Islamabad granted second consular access to Jadhav. The sources relayed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has conveyed the decision to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad and is awaiting its response to the offer. Two consular officers of the Indian High Commission were provided unimpeded and uninterrupted consular access to Commander Jadhav at 3pm on Thursday, according to the Foreign Office. “Pakistan provided second consular access to Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav at the Indian request. First consular access under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR) 1963 was earlier provided by Pakistan on 2 September 2019. The mother and wife of Commander Jadhav were also allowed to meet him on 25 December 2017,” it said in a statement. Aisha Farooqui said two consular officers of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad were provided unimpeded and uninterrupted consular access to Commander Jadhav.  Jadhav has been in Pakistan’s custody following his arrest from Balochistan in a counter-intelligence operation on March 3, 2016. During investigation, he confessed to his involvement in terrorist activities inside Pakistan that resulted in the loss of many precious human lives. He also made important revelations about RAW’s role in sponsoring state terrorism in Pakistan.  On July 17, 2019, the ICJ had rejected remedies sought by India, including annulment of military court decision convicting Kulbhushan Jadhav, his release and safe passage to India. Announcing the verdict Judge Abdulqavi Ahmed Yousaf told Pakistan to review the death sentence for an alleged Indian spy, saying Islamabad violated his rights to consular visits. The court, in its verdict, rejected a number of Indian demands including annulment of military court decision convicting Jadhav, his release and safe passage to India. The ICJ found that Pakistan deprived India of the right to communicate with and have access to Kulbhushan Jadhav, to visit him in detention and to arrange for his legal representation, and thereby breached obligations incumbent upon it under Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. The tribunal in The Hague ordered an “effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence of Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav”. The judge remarked that Pakistan and India are signatories of the Vienna Convention. “A continued stay of execution constitutes an indispensable condition for the effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence of Mr Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav,” it ruled.