India may reject Pak ‘terms’ for access to Kulbhushan Jadhav
There were reports that Islamabad had offered to grant the consular access at 3.30 pm on Friday.
New Delhi: Amid reports that Pakistan has placed conditions before India on consular access to imprisoned former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, including the presence of a Pakistani official at the meeting, New Delhi is evaluating its options which may include rejecting the proposal if it is not in line with the recent verdict of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
There were reports that Islamabad had offered to grant the consular access at 3.30 pm on Friday, but these were not confirmed by New Delhi, which merely confirmed that a proposal for consular access had been received from the Pakistani authorities. However, New Delhi is expected to take a final decision very soon on whether or not to to accept the proposal.
Mr Jadhav had been handed a death penalty in Pakistan in April 2017 by a military court on charges of espionage and sabotage.
New Delhi had dismissed the Pakistani charges. The ICJ, in its verdict on July 17, had criticised Pakistan for not granting India consular access to Mr Jadhav in violation of the Vienna Convention. “We have received a proposal from Pakistan. We are at present evaluating the proposal,” MEA spokesman Raveesh Kumar said.