India
Pakistan sent its proposal on July 30 but it had two riders — first that Pakistani security personnel will be present during the meet and that there will be CCTV cameras present in the room.
Updated : Aug 03, 2019, 05:05 AM IST
India rejected Pakistan's proposal of partial consular access and demanded full consular access to Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is on death row on spying charges.
Calling on Islamabad to provide full consular access to Jadhav, India in its response sent on Thursday evening asked Pakistan to provide "unimpeded consular access" in an "environment free from the fear of intimidation and reprisal, in the light of the orders of the International Court of Justice (ICJ)", according to government sources.
Pakistan sent its proposal on July 30 but it had two riders — first that Pakistani security personnel will be present during the meet and that there will be CCTV cameras present in the room.
According to Vienna Convention's Article 36, "Consular officer shall be free to communicate with nationals of the sending State and to have access to them" and the fact that Pakistan would keep an officer present during Indian officials' meet with Jadhav means Pakistan is contravening the convention.
The Pakistani proposal had suggested a meet between an Indian diplomat and Jadhav on Friday at 3 pm Pakistan time.
Pakistan government spokesperson Mohammad Faisal during his weekly presser on Thursday had said, "We have offered the Indian High Commission to avail consular access on this Friday."
The Pakistani proposal for consular access for Kulbhushan Jadhav came 14 days after New Delhi got a major diplomatic victory at the ICJ, which stayed his execution.
On July 17, in its verdict, President of the International Court of Justice Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf said, "Islamic Republic of Pakistan is under an obligation to inform Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav without further delay of his rights and to provide Indian consular officers access to him in accordance with Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations"
The court unanimously found that it had jurisdiction in the case and by a vote of 15-1, pronounced its verdict, with the sole dissenting Judge being Ad Hoc Judge Tassdduq Hussain Jillani, who is the former Chief Justice of Pakistan.
India was first informed of Jadhav, who was abducted from Iran, about his custody by Pakistani authorities on March 25, 2016, after which in 2017, Islamabad announced that a military court has awarded him a death sentence.
According to Vienna Convention’s Article 36, “Consular officer shall be free to communicate with nationals of the sending State and to have access to them” and the fact that Pakistan would keep an officer present during Indian officials’ meet with Jadhav means Pakistan is contravening the convention
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