ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office spokesperson, Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri has said that Pakistan re-contacted the Indian government over the matter of appointing a legal representative for Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) spy and agent Kulbhushan Jadhav.
The foreign office has sent a new note to the Indian High Commission with a copy of the order of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and also offered to appoint a lawyer soon, said a statement.
Earlier on Thursday, a larger bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) ordered the government to give another chance to India to appoint defense counsel for Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian spy and agent of intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
Attorney General told the court that to comply with orders of the international court, Pakistan granted counselor access to India; however, it has not replied to Pakistan’s offer to appoint a lawyer for the Indian spy.
IHC, while ordering the government to send its order to India regarding Jadhav, adjourned the hearing till October 3.
Earlier, the government had moved the court stating that Kulbhushan, who was involved in numerous terrorist activities in Pakistan, had refused to file an appeal against his sentence.
On July 2, Pakistan had decided to grant third consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav following his refusal to file a review petition against his sentence.
On July 16, Indian Charge d’affaires reached the Foreign Office as New Delhi accepted Pakistan’s offer to give second consular access to Jadhav. The place where the agent was kept had been declared as sub-jail.
FO spokesperson said the first consular access under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 1963 was earlier provided by Pakistan on the second September last year.
The mother and wife of Commander, Jadhav were also allowed to meet him on December 25, 2017 spokesperson added.
Jadhav was arrested in 2016 for spying inside Balochistan during a counterintelligence raid, conducted by security forces.
He later confessed his involvement in terrorist activities inside Pakistan that resulted in the loss of many precious human lives.
He also made important revelations about RAW’s role in sponsoring state terrorism in Pakistan. Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017.
However, India approached the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in May 2017 against Pakistan for denying consular access to Jadhav.
Although, the ICJ is expected to pronounce its verdict in the case involving Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, sentenced to death in Pakistan, on 17th July 2020.
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