Pakistan will constitute a new team of lawyers to "vigorously" present its case against Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav at the ICJ, the Prime Minister's advisor on foreign affairs said today as the government faced flak over the handling of the case.
The announcement by Sartaj Aziz came amid criticism by experts and opposition leaders over the government's handling of the case at the International Court of Justice. The Hague-based court had yesterday stayed the execution of Jadhav, 46, considered to be a spy by Pakistan.
The UN's highest judicial body also asked Pakistan to take "all measures" to ensure that Jadhav, sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged espionage, was not executed till the court had delivered its final verdict on the issue.
The ruling triggered criticism of the Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) for its "poor handling" and also for its choice of UK-based Khawar Qureshi, who represented Pakistan's case before the ICJ.
Aziz, however, maintained that Qureshi had "courageously" presented Pakistan's case in the court, the Nation reported. He said the ICJ had given its point of view on Jadhav's case to get counselor access. "Pakistan s security is so important and we have to maintain our fundamental sovereign right," Aziz was quoted as saying by the daily.
Pakistan, which announced the sentence on Jadhav on April 10, claims its security forces arrested him from its restive Balochistan province on March 3 last year after he reportedly entered from Iran. However, India maintains that he was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Navy.
Jadhav's case is the latest flash-point in the tensions between Pakistan and India. The two countries last faced off at the ICJ 18 years ago when Islamabad sought its intervention over the shooting down of its naval aircraft.
India's case on Kulbhushan Jadhav has been "emboldened" and "invigorated" with the first round of victory at the International Court of Justice, senior advocate Harish Salve, who represented the country, said on Thursday.
Salve, who took up the case 'pro bono' (free of charge), said India had "a lot at stake" in it and that he felt a "positive energy and connect with judges" while arguing the matter in which Pakistan did not seem to have the same.
"As a lawyer for 40 years, you get a feel of how judges are reacting. I felt a positive energy when I was arguing the case.
"I felt the judges were connecting. I felt gratified. I did not feel that connection when the other side was arguing," he told TV news channels from London.
Salve said, "It was a complicated subject. We worked hard and prima facie got acceptance on all our points. We are now a lot more emboldened and a lot more invigorated." He said it was a big decision by the government to approach the ICJ as India had a lot at stake. "The government had complete faith in my advice," he said.
He said that the ICJ has rightly held that India should have been granted consular access as per the Vienna Convention to which both the countries have been signatories since 1977.
"We had asked for consular access much before the trial began. The consular access should have been granted in March 2016 itself," Salve said.
He said that the order of the ICJ was "binding" on both the countries.
"I think the court thought it appropriate to clarify that this order is binding. That puts everything to rest and also indicates the mind of the court prima facie. To me as a lawyer, it's a degree of satisfaction," he said.
On being asked about charging Re 1 as the fee for fighting the case, Salve said he took the case "pro bono" as he believed in it.
"When you believe in the case you do it pro bono and this was such a case. Government of India sought advice from me at the initial stage after which I researched about the case and gave my advice," he said.
