Pakistan to decide on India’s request for consular access to Jadhav ‘on merit’

Pakistan today said that it will decide “on merit” the request made by India for consular access to its citizen Kulbhushan Jadhav who has been sentenced to death by a military court on spying charges.

Pakistan’s assertion came a day after India handed over an appeal by the mother of Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by the Field General Court Martial, to the appellate court, initiating a process to get his conviction overturned. Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said that India has sought consular access to 46-year-old Jadhav.

“We have made it clear time and again that Pakistan and India have signed an agreement on consular access in 2008, and according to clause VI of that agreement, decision to grant consular access in cases where detentions and arrests relate to political or security matters, the request of consular access will be decided on merits of the case, he said. Referring to Indian High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale’s demand for consular access to Jadhav during a meeting with Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua yesterday, the spokesman said that the Indian diplomat had submitted a request for an appeal “which will be examined by experts.”

Zakaria’s statement differs from that of army spokesman Major …read more