ISLAMABAD: Despite tension with New Delhi over Kashmir issue running high, Pakistan on Monday provided consular access to serving Indian naval commander and intelligence operative Kulbhushan Jadhav by arranging his meeting with the official in charge of India’s High Commission Gaurav Ahluwalia in line with Vienna Convention and the July 17 verdict of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

“The consular access was provided at 1200 hours and lasted for two hours in the presence of officials of the government of Pakistan,” says an official statement issued by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after the meeting held at an undisclosed location.

“On the Indian request, there was no restriction on the language of communication,” added the statement.

However, in order to ensure transparency and in line with standard operating procedures, and as conveyed to the Indian side in advance, “the access was recorded”, the spokesperson stated.

FO says there was no bar on language of communication during consular access

“As a responsible member of the international community and in line with our international commitments, Pakistan has provided unimpeded and uninterrupted consular access to India to Commander Jadhav,” the statement concludes.

Foreign Office spokesman Dr Mohammad Faisal through his official account on Twitter had announced on Sunday that Pakistan would grant consular access to Jadhav, the serving officer of Indian Navy and a Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) operative, in line with Vienna Convention and the ICJ verdict.

The Indian spy had been arrested in a counter-intelligence operation in Balochistan on charges of espionage and terrorism. He was later awarded death sentence.

However, New Delhi alleged that Pakistan was pressurising Jadhav to “parrot a false narrative” to help its case.

In a statement issued hours after the meeting, the official spokesperson for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, Raveesh Kumar, said: “While we await a comprehensive report, it was clear that Shri Jadhav appeared to be under extreme pressure to parrot a false narrative to bolster Pakistan’s untenable claims.

“We will decide a further course of action after receiving a detailed report from our charge d’ affaires and determining the extent of conformity to the ICJ directives.”

India’s official statement indicates that Jadhav stuck to his earlier confessional statement during his meeting with Mr Ahluwalia on Monday afternoon though there was no official word from Pakistan’s FO about the content of the conversation.

According to Mr Kumar, the consular access was part of the “binding obligations” of Pakistan as ordered by the ICJ to ensure effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence awarded to Jadhav through a “farcical” process.

Mr Kumar said the Indian external affairs minister also briefed Jadhav’s mother over the latest developments.

“The (Indian) government remains committed to continue to work towards ensuring that Shri Jadhav receives justice at the earliest and returns safely to India,” he concluded.

Mr Ahluwalia, who had been posted as deputy high commissioner in Islamabad, has been in charge of the Indian HC after Pakistan’s last month decision to downgrade its diplomatic ties with India in response to New Delhi’s move to annex occupied Kashmir.

The decision had been made by the National Security Committee (NSC) on Aug 8, three days after India announced revocation of Article 370 of its constitution that gave occupied Kashmir an autonomous status and legislated to split the held valley into Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir.

Shortly after the NSC meeting, an FO statement said New Delhi had been asked to withdraw High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria from Islamabad. Pakistan’s High Commissioner-designate Moinul Haq, who was expected to travel to India on Aug 16 for assuming charge of his office, was also stopped from proceeding to New Delhi.

A military court had awarded death sentence to Kulbhushan Jadhav on April 10, 2017, following his confession that he had mounted operations for RAW to conduct terrorist activities on Pakistani soil. Later in June 2017, the Indian spy filed a mercy petition against death penalty, in which he again confessed to his involvement in terrorist activities.

However, before Pakistani authorities could make a final decision, the ICJ, after being approached by India, ordered a stay in his execution through an interim order.

In its final verdict, the ICJ asked Pakistan to provide consular access to Jadhav under Vienna Convention and rejected India’s request for his acquittal, release and return.

Following the verdict, the FO had announced that as a responsible state, Pakistan would grant consular access to Jadhav in accordance with the country’s laws, for which modalities were being worked out. It said Jadhav had been informed of his rights under Article 36, Paragraph 1(b) of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

In its verdict that followed proceedings lasting about two years, the UN’s top court did not accept India’s contention that Jadhav was entitled to ‘restitutio in integrum’ (restoration to original position) and turned down its request to annul the decision of the Pakistani military court. Instead it ruled that Pakistan by means of its own choosing could undergo an effective review and reconsideration of the sentence awarded to Jadhav.

The ICJ said that even though it had found Pakistan in violation of Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR), “it is not the conviction and sentence of Mr Jadhav which are to be regarded as a violation of Article 36 of the Vienna Convention”.

The most, the ICJ said, it could do was to order Pakistan to cease violation of Article 36 and review the case in light of how that violation might have affected the case outcome. “The court notes that Pakistan acknowledges that the appropriate remedy in the present case would be effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence,” it observed.

Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2019