Pakistan’s Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf will represent the country at the International Court of Justice in the case involving former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, ANI reported on Thursday. Jadhav, who was arrested from Pakistan’s Balochistan province in March 2016, was sentenced to death by a military court in the country on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has informed the ICJ registrar at Peace Palace, The Hague, that Ausaf will be Islamabad’s “agent” in the case. Foreign Affairs Director General Mohammad Faisal will continue to represent the country as a “co-agent”, according to reports.

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An agent is a top government functionary who leads a delegation to represent a country. The agent opens arguments or presents a framework before legal representations at the world court.

All future exchanges of information between Pakistan and the ICJ will now be made through the Attorney General’s Office, PTI reported.

Ausaf had informed the ICJ about Pakistan’s intention to appoint an ad-hoc judge to the bench for all proceedings, including the hearing in the Jadhav case, after a meeting between ICJ President Ronny Abraham and delegations from Pakistan and India on June 8 in the Netherlands.

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On July 2, Pakistan had rejected India’s request for consular access to Jadhav for the 18th time. Pakistan’s Foreign Office had claimed that New Delhi was suppressing facts by calling “spy” Jadhav a “common prisoner”.

In May 2017, India had taken the case to the ICJ, saying Pakistan had refused to give them consular access to Jadhav repeatedly. The world court had ordered Pakistan to grant India consular access to Jadhav, which has not been done so far.

Although the ICJ’s stay on Jadhav’s execution was a huge relief, Pakistan has maintained that the UN has no jurisdiction in the case, even while saying that its order was not final.

The next hearing is expected to be held in October.