Jadhav case to be pursued forcefully: Pakistan’s Attorney General

Islamabad, May 13 (IANS) A set of recommendations has been sent to the Prime Ministers Office and the Foreign Office, strategising how to plead Pakistans point of view on Monday before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the conviction of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav.

Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on espionage charges and earlier this week, the ICJ at the Hague in the Netherlands suspended the death sentence.

"We have sent our recommendations to the Prime Minister's Office and the Foreign Office," Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf told Dawn on Friday.

Ausaf said a robust reply would be advanced by Pakistan in a forceful manner, refuting all allegations levelled against it and also pointing out atrocities India was committing in Kashmir, the Dawn report said.

He said it was necessary to keep all measures and options confidential so that the "other side might not know the strategy being devised".

Ausaf is expected to lead the Pakistan side before the ICJ. But he did not rule out the possibility of engaging someone from abroad, saying the endeavour would be to hire the best minds on international law to advance Pakistan's standpoint.

However, he acknowledged that time was short since the hearing would begin on May 15.

Islamabad said the Indian move (to approach ICJ in Jadhav case) was an attempt to divert attention from "state-sponsored terrorism in Pakistan" and that it was analysing the ICJ's authority in the matter.