NEW DELHI: India on Thursday slammed Pakistan for passing the International Court of Justice (Review & Reconsideration) Bill, 2020, with ‘shortcomings’ and urged Islamabad to address them. The Bill was passed by Pakistan’s National Assembly last week and provides right to appeal to Indian death-row convict Kulbhushan Jadhav.
“The bill has a provision for inviting the municipal court to decide whether any prejudice has been caused to Jadhav on account of the failure to provide consular access in accordance with a verdict of the
International Court of Justice (ICJ). We call upon Pakistan to take steps to address the shortcomings in the Bill,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said. He added a municipal court cannot be the arbiter of whether the state has fulfilled its obligation under international law.
Bagchi said the Bill further invites the municipal court to sit in appeal, as it were, over the judgement of the ICJ. Jadhav, a retired Navy officer, was arrested and sentenced to death by a Pakistani court on charges of espionage and terrorism. India approached ICJ for denial of consular access to Jadhav. The ICJ ruled in avour of India and directed Pakistan to make provisions for review of the sentence.
Afghanistan issue part of India-Qatar talks
India on Thursday confirmed that the Afghanistan issue was discussed between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and top Qatari leadership during his two visits to the Gulf nation. The Ministry of External Affairs said the leaders exchanged views on the Afghanistan situation.