Pakistan to file second counter-memorial on Kulbhushan Jadhav at ICJ. Full details here

Pakistan will submit its second counter-memorial to India over the conviction of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, on Tuesday at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Republic TV has learnt.

Foreign Office Director India Dr Fareha Bugti, of the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will submit the reply on Pakistan's behalf, Pakistani diplomatic sources confirmed. She has already arrived at the Hague.

As per sources, Pakistan has compiled a comprehensive and detailed reply over the concerns raised by India on the espionage and terrorism conviction and death penalty sentence meted out to Jadhav by Field General Court Martial (FGCM) in April 2017. The response runs into 400 pages and, as per sources, has been compiled by a team of experts led by the Attorney-General of Pakistan.

The counter by Pakistan will be in response to the memorial filed by India on April 17 this year. India has accused Pakistan of violating the Vienna Convention by not giving consular access to Jadhav and has maintained from the start that the trial of Jadhav by the military court was "farcical". Top legal-eagle Harish Salve has represented India at the ICJ.

Once Pakistan's second memorial is filed, the ICJ will fix the matter for hearing, likely to take place next year. A ten-member bench of the court had on May 18, 2017, restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav till the case is adjudicated after India had moved the ICJ following his sentence.

Kulbhushan Jadhav had been kidnapped in March 2016 from Iran's Chabahar where he had engaged in business ventures after retiring from the Indian Navy. Pakistan, however, claims that he was arrested from its restive Balochistan province. Pakistan has released numerous 'confession videos' which contain obvious and telltale signs of having been doctored. Kulbhushan's family, i.e. his mother and daughter, were also allowed to visit him during his incarceration, which Pakistan politicised at the world stage as a humanitarian gesture.