New Delhi, July 18 (IANS) India on Thursday said that it expects Pakistan to "act immediately" on the International Court of Justice's ruling and allow consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav.
A day after the ICJ ruled in favour of consular access to Jadhav and for continued stay on his execution and sentence, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that the words the ICJ used were "without further delay", which means "immediately".
"When the court says immediate action, it means immediate and Pakistan should take immediate action. We are waiting for Pakistan to act," the spokesperson said.
According to the spokesperson, Pakistan is "obliged to act" on the directive of the ICJ.
He said the top UN court is "the principal judicial organ of the UN and the verdict is binding on all UN members. And now it is time for Pakistan to act."
To a question on whether Pakistan will implement the ICJ judgement - on providing consular access to Jadhav, which is has denied since his "arrest" in March 2016, the spokesperson said that the first paragraph of the ICJ press release on Wednesday's judgement "very clearly says that the judgement is final, binding and without appeal".
He reiterated the court's observation that Pakistan "is under an obligation to inform Jadhav without further delay of his rights of consular access and to provide Indian consular officials access to him in accordance with the Vienna Convention".
To questions on whether India will get immediate consular access to Jadhav, who is believed to be incarcerated in a military jail in an unknown location in Pakistan, the spokesperson reiterated that Pakistan is "under obligation under the Vienna Convention to provide Indian officers access to Jadhav".
"We expect Pakistan to implement the ICJ directive immediately, without further delay. There is nothing else that is required, and it is incumbent on Pakistan to follow the ICJ verdict and grant consular access to Jadhav and also inform him about his rights," he reiterated.
To queries on whether Jadhav, sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in April 2017, could be tried in a civilian court, Kumar said, that the ICJ in its verdict ruled that Pakistan "should take all measures to provide for effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentencing of Jadhav, and added that this should include enacting appropriate legislation".
He refused to answer "speculative questions" on if Pakistan refuses to abide by the ICJ ruling what would be the next steps.
He cited the ICJ press release headline, which says that Pakistan "in the matter of the detention and trial of Kulbhushan Jadhav, has acted in breach of the obligations incumbent on it under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations"
On the eight points on which the ICJ ruled, he said that it all went in favour of India, with one unanimous and the rest in a 15-1 verdict, with a Pakistani ad hoc judge as the lone dissenter.
On the seventh point in the ruling, Kumar said the ICJ has asked Pakistan "to provide effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence of Jadhav to ensure that full weight is given to the effect of the violation of the rights under the Vienna Convention".
The eighth point of the ruling "puts a continued stay on the execution of Jadhav and this constitutes an indispensable condition for effective review and reconsideration", he said.
He said India's demand for consular access to Jadhav has been "pending for a long time" and New Delhi expects Islamabad to "deliver immediately".
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