New Delhi: India decided to move the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the issue of retired Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav as he is in illegal detention in Pakistan and his life is under threat, the External Affairs Ministry said today.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay said the decision was taken in the case after careful deliberation.
He said India made 16 requests for consular access to Jadhav but there was no response from Pakistan on the demand. Islamabad has also not responded to India's request for papers relating to Jadhav's case.
There is also no information on the status of appeal by Jadhav's family against the order of a Pakistan military court which sentenced him to death on charges of "spying".
Baglay also said External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had written to Pakistan Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz on April 27 requesting visa for Jadhav's family.
Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs Hansraj Ahir stated that the development signalled a major victory for the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Government.
Ahir said that the stay ordered by the international court has put Pakistan in its place.
"This is a big success for India and a big loss for Pakistan. Pakistan doesn't work the legitimate way. It was about to punish an innocent person. This is a big win for the Narendra Modi government," Ahir told.
The International Court of Justice on Tuesday stayed the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of "spying".
The order by the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) came a day after India approached it against the death sentence handed down to Jadhav by Pakistan's Field General Court Martial last month, official sources said.
India, in its appeal to the ICJ, accused Pakistan of "egregious" violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and asserted that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he was involved in business activities after retiring
from the Indian Navy but Pakistan claimed to have arrested him from Balochistan on March 3, 2016.
