External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday said India sought diplomatic access to former naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is imprisoned in Pakistan on charges of espionage, two days ago, PTI reported. Jadhav is on death row in Islamabad after Pakistan charged him with spying for Indian intelligence agencies in 2016.
After he was sentenced to death, India moved the International Court of Justice against the verdict in May 2017. The court stayed his execution, but a final verdict is pending.
In October, the International Court of Justice said it will hold hearings from February 18 to February 21 in the Peace Palace at The Hague in the Netherlands, the seat of the court.
In December 2017, Jadhav’s mother and wife travelled to Islamabad to meet Jadhav. They were allowed to meet for less than an hour. This was Jadhav’s first contact with his family since his arrest.
India has demanded consular access to Jadhav under the rules of the Vienna Convention – an international treaty on consular relations between independent states – but Pakistan has rejected the request repeatedly.
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