After the diplomatic win for India in Kulbhushan Jadhav case, Pakistan is set to form a new team of lawyers to fight the Jadhav case that is before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), said Adviser to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz.

The counsel of Pakistan had courageously presented Pakistan’s stance in ICJ, the primary judicial organ of the United Nations, on Jadhav, said Aziz. The ICJ has no jurisdiction over the county’s national security matters, which in this instance was the execution of Jadhav, said the Pakistan’s Foreign Office.

The decision to challenge the jurisdiction of the ICJ was taken after consultation with all government institutions and agencies, said Foreign Office Spokesman Nafees Zakaria. The Pakistan’s reply to the court was submitted in line with the Article 36 of the Vienna Convention, said Zakaria.

The spokesman further pointed out that since 2008 there exists a bilateral agreement on consular access between Pakistan and India. The article 6 of the agreement solely relates to the consular access being determined on the merit of the case.

Zakaria said, “After India stood exposed on state-sponsored terrorism and financing terrorism, it tried to gain attention by presenting the Jadhav case with a humanitarian angle.”

The ICJ stayed the death sentence awarded to former Indian Naval officer and alleged Indian spy Jadhav by the Pakistan military court. The ICJ cited that both - India and Pakistan were bound by the Vienna Convention and that the rights invoked by New Delhi under the Vienna Convention were plausible.

SUPRAJA