Kulbhushan case: Pakistan to present evidence in ICJ on 19th, says Qureshi

MANCHESTER: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday said Pakistan’s legal team will present its stance and evidence in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case at the International Court of Justice (IJC) at The Hague on February 19. Speaking to the media in Manchester, the minister said Pakistan’s legal team has prepared its arguments in the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav. He said Jadhav has confessed to his involvement in subversive activities carried out in Pakistan. The security forces in Pakistan arrested Jadhav from Balochistan in March, 2016 after he entered the country illegally from Iran. India denies these charges and says he was kidnapped from Iran. India approached the ICJ against Jadhav’s conviction as a spy. On May 18, 2017, the ICJ ordered Pakistan to stop Jadhav’s execution.

“Pakistan should take all measures to ensure that Jadhav is not executed till the final decision of this court,” the ICJ said in its judgment.

In April 2017, Jadhav had been court-martialled and sentenced to death by a military tribunal for espionage and fomenting terrorism in Pakistan. “The spy has been tried through the Field General Court Martial (FGCM) under the Pakistan Army Act (PAA) and awarded the death sentence,” the ISPR had said.

The ICJ will hold the public hearings from February 18 to February 21 at The Hague. The first round of oral arguments will take place on February 18, when India will argue from 10am to 1pm. Pakistan will put forth their first round arguments on February 19 from 10am to 1pm.

Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Jadhav was arrested on Pakistani territory and has confessed during the course of investigations. He said 70 years of poor relations between Pakistan and India cannot be fixed in six months.

Speaking about the PTI government, he said the party put their party manifesto in front of the people and that is what they were elected on. The minister said the government has effectively highlighted the issue of Kashmir in British Parliament. He said India seems worried over the worsening situation in Indian Held Kashmir as young generation of Kashmiris is fed up with Indian policies.

Shah Mehmood said Pakistan is playing an active role for peace in Afghanistan as it is in the interest of the country.