Pakistan today accused India of using Kulbhushan Jhadav’s death conviction as an issue to ‘divert ‘ the attention from the ‘state-sponsored’ terrorism in the country.
Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Defence Minister of Pakistan accused India of this in a tweet, a day after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) stayed the execution of 46-year-old Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of “spying”.
“Indian letter to ICJ attempt to divert attention from state sponsored terrorism in Pakistan. Kulbhushan convicted of offences against national security,” Asif tweeted.
It was the first response from Pakistan after the order.
The order by the Hague-based 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.
Earlier, Pakistan’s media rejected India’s claim over the order. A local channel said the ICJ had no jurisdiction over Pakistan as it can only take cognizance of the matter with the consent of the parties.
Dailies in Pakistan did not report about the Indian claim on the stay order. Similarly, their media in its report on the issue did not mention the stay.
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.
Jadhav’s sentencing evoked a sharp reaction in India. India has warned Pakistan of consequences and damage to bilateral ties if the “pre-meditated murder” was carried out.
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