ISLAMABAD – Pakistan on Tuesday made a strong statement in KulbhushanJadhav case based on solid evidence of espionage against the Indian spy asInternational Court of Justice (ICJ) resumed its public hearing on thesecond day at The Hague, Netherlands.At the Peace Palace, English Queen’s Counsel Barrister Khawar Qureshirepresenting Pakistan raised nine points in light of evidence pertaining toespionage, Jadhav’s confessional statement, his 17 times travel on fakeIndian passport and unlawful claim of consular access under ViennaConvention.The case proceedings were shown live from the courtroom and shared by theICJ’s website for real-time update of the viewers worldwide, including inthe party states Pakistan and India.Before the 15-member bench, Counsel Qureshi termed India’s oral arguments -presented a day earlier – as “an opportunity wasted”, saying India failedto answer fundamental questions regarding subversive activities of itsserving navy commander inside Pakistan.Counsel Khawar Qureshi argued India’s demand of provisional measureswithout conduct of any hearing since it invoked ICJ’s jurisdiction on May8, 2016 and termed “outlandish” the Indian claim for “at least” acquittal,release and return of Jadhav.Calling India’s proposition as “absurd and nonsensical,” he said India wasshowing lack of good faith and sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan throughJadhav.He also referred to a few cases of Russia and China where States were freeto modify their own practice in dealing with espionage as special case.He said India and Pakistan entered into a clearly worded agreement onconsular access (operative since 1982 and amended in 2008) which identifiedthe basis to consider the option of consular access in case of espionage.He emphasized that India’s conduct in sending Commander Jadhav to engage inacts of espionage violated the Article 5(a) of Vienna Convention and saidpermitting consular access would be in blatant violation of the fundamentalprecepts of international law.He requested the Court to “declare India’s petition inadmissible by reasonof its conduct manifesting abuse of rights, illegality andmisrepresentation.”On alternative, he said, even if the Court were to hold that ViennaConvention’s Article 36 was engaged and a right to consular access wasdenied, the appropriate remedy would be filing a review before Pakistan’sHigh Court , any time by Jadhav and his family.Earlier, Attorney General for Pakistan Anwar Mansoor Khan as Agent saidPakistan remained committed to peaceful resolution to all outstandingdisputes and mentioned that the country suffered more than 74,000casualties due to interference by neighbouring India.In this context, he said, Commander Jadhav working for Research andAnalysis Wing (RAW) entered Pakistan with predetermined plan of sabotageand confessed to his crime before the judicial magistrate.The Attorney General said Jadhav was involved in carrying out bombings,targeted operations, kidnapping and unlawful activities to create anarchyin Pakistan and target the Pakistan China Economic Corridor.He mentioned that he himself had been a victim of Indian brutalities whenfaced torture during the 1971 Indo-Pak War as prisoner of war.He recalled that Jadhav’s mother and wife were allowed to meet him inDecember 2017, and said it was a challenge for India to quote a similarexample where a person involved in espionage and terrorism was grantedaccess to family on humanitarian grounds.The Attorney General said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016 andalso National Security Adviser Ajit Doval admitted to use of spy activitiesfor creating unrest in Pakistan. He mentioned the massacre of Army PublicSchool Peshawar, where 140 school children as young as six years, werekilled by militants operated by India through AfghanistanPakistan’s Judge Ad hoc Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, who was to sit inthe bench, could not attend the hearing on the second consecutive day dueto ill health.The Attorney General requested the Court for replacement of the Judge Adhoc in view of the country’s right under Article 35(5) of Rules of Court,to which the head of the bench reserved the decision.Pakistan’s Co-Agent Dr Mohammad Faisal, Ambassador to the NetherlandsShujaat Ali Rathore and junior counsels Joseph Dyke and Catriona Nicolattended the hearing from Pakistani side. Indian Counsel Advocate HarishSalve and Joint Secretary of Indian External Affairs Ministry Deepak Mittalwere present in the courtroom.The Court adjourned the hearing till Wednesday (tomorrow) at 7 pm PakistanStandard Time for final submissions by India followed by Pakistan the nextday.
Kulbhushan Jhadav: Pakistan’s nine points evidence based statement in ICJ rattles India
