Congress leader PC Chacko on Monday termed Pakistan’s alleged move to seek redressal on the Kashmir issue from the International Court of Justice an impractical one, adding that Pakistan is “gravely mistaken in the matter”.
“In the matter of execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav, India had no choice but to approach the ICJ, since consular access itself was denied. A long-pending issue like Kashmir is not one to be solved by the ICJ,” Congress leader PC Chacko was quoted as saying by ANI. He said that approaching the ICJ about the unrest in Kashmir was “not practical” because the case was very different from Jadhav’s.
Chacko added that the Kashmir issue has been deliberated several times at international forums, but can only be resolved by means of a bilateral agreement. “In this context, if Pakistan thinks the Kashmir issue can be raised at the ICJ, Pakistan is highly mistaken,” he added.
His comments came after Pakistan’s local media had allegedly reported that top authorities in the government are planning to move the ICJ over the dispute with India over Kashmir.
Earlier this year, India had filed a petition in the international court to seek provisional stay of the alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav’s execution, who was convicted of espionage by a military court in Pakistan. The ICJ had stayed Jadhav’s execution until the hearing was completed, but had ordered Pakistan to give India consular access to the prisoner, pointing out that they had not done that so far.
The Indian government is now readying for the next set of hearings in the case. The Centre has not commented on whether it is keeping the same legal team as before.
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