New Delhi, May 11: In a major diplomatic victory, India has secured stay on former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav’s hanging under the Vienna Convention on Consular Access from the International Court of Justice.
The move, a well kept secret, also signals shift in New Delhi’s position of not seeking international intervention in the case.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called up Jadhav’s mother to inform her of the development. “I have spoken to the mother of Kulbhushan Jadhav and told her about the order of President, ICJ under Art 74 of the court,” she tweeted. .
The international court of justice has given the order under Article 74 Paragraph 4 that stipulates order indicating provisional measures without waiting for oral hearing.
India had moved the ICJ on May 9.
India’s case is that Jadhav was kidnapped by Pakistani agents from a port in Iran and forced to confess that he was a spy and spreading mayhem in Karachi and Balochistan in association with local terrorist groups. He was an Indian Navy officer but had retired and was doing business in Iran at the time of the alleged kidnapping. India had also complained that despite 16 requests for consular access to Jadhav, Pakistan had denied access on the grounds that in such cases consular access is not mandatory.
(The featured image at the top shows the International Court of Justice at the Hague in Holland)
