New Delhi: India has asked Pakistan for unhindered consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav after receiving a proposal from Pakistan regarding the same.
Jadhav, 49, a retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of "espionage and terrorism" in April 2017 following which India had moved the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The Hague-based ICJ then ordered Pakistan to grant consular access to Jadhav without further delay and undertake an "effective review and reconsideration" of the conviction and sentence awarded to him.
Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Mohammed Faisal on August 1st, in an answer to a query at a media briefing in Islamabad, had said: "We have offered the Indian High Commission to avail consular access on this Friday. The reply from the Indian side is awaited."
When asked whether Pakistan has put some conditions for granting consular access to Jadhav, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had refused to give a direct answer. "I do not think this is the appropriate forum for me to get into the kind of modalities which are being discussed between India and Pakistan," he said.
There were reports that Pakistan has put a condition that a Pakistani official will have to be present when Jadhav is given consular access.
Following the ICJ's order, India had asked Pakistan to grant full consular access to Jadhav at the earliest in "full compliance and conformity" of the world court's verdict.
