India unlikely to succeed in ICJ: lawyer

ISLAMABAD: India wants the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to issue order for the release of Indian spy Kulbushan Jadhav from the Pakistan but she would eventually not succeed in its efforts keeping in view the record of such cases in the past, said Khawar Qureshi, the lawyer representing Pakistan in the Kulbushan Jadhav case at the ICJ.

Talking to The News, he said ICJ would decide the case of Kulbushan Jadhav in line with the established legal principles so Pakistan can rightly hope that India would not succeed in its efforts to obtain release of its spy from the Pakistan custody.

“Commander Jadhav is a very clear case as he can never be released or acquitted. The ICJ will not free or acquit Kulbushan Jadhav, who was sentenced to death by a military court for his alleged involvement in spying and subversive activities in Pakistan,” he said.

Khawar Qureshi pointed out that “The stay order is not the final decision and ICJ is also not a court of appeal. India is trying to make something out of nothing. The ICJ will give decision in line with the international laws and we are hopeful that our stance will be acknowledged at the end.”

It is pertinent to mention here that India believes that the ICJ can look into Jadhav's case as both the countries are signatories to the optional protocol of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR). The protocol says any dispute arising out of the interpretation or application of VCCR shall lie within the jurisdiction of the ICJ. But, last time India won a case against Pakistan was by arguing the court never have the jurisdiction on matters involving two Commonwealth countries. 

He said ICJ had not rejected the stance of Pakistan and the interim verdict was not a defeat or victory of any country, adding: “India has now submitted its fuller case and we will also do our best to achieve the best outcome in this case.”

To a question, he said there are some elements that have been constantly trying to keep him out of the Kulbushan Jadhav case due to which they spread false and baseless information about him on the social media.