‘Give Unconditional Consular Access To Kulbhushan Jadhav Before 20 July’: India Talks Tough With Pakistan

India has asked Pakistan to give unconditional access to Kulbhushan Jadhav ahead of the 20 July deadline to file a review petition, reports India Today.

Additionally, the report states that India also wants two officials to be allowed to meet Kulbhushan Jadhav.

The development comes a week after Pakistan had claimed that captured Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, sentenced to death by military court of Pakistan, has refused to file a review petition and has decided to go ahead with his pending mercy plea.

"On June 17, 2020, Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav was invited to file a petition for review and reconsideration of his sentence and conviction. Exercising his legal right he refused to file a petition for review and reconsideration of his sentence and conviction," Pakistan Additional Attorney General Ahmed Irfan claimed last Wednesday.

Terming the Pakistani claims as ‘farce’, India had stated last Thursday that Jadhav was coerced by Islamabad to forego his rights to seek implementation of the judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

"Pakistan's claim that Jadhav, who is incarcerated in Pakistan's custody, has refused to initiate review petition is a continuation of the farce that has been in play for the last four years. Jadhav has been sentenced to execution through a farcical trial. He remains under custody of Pakistan's military. He has clearly been coerced to refuse to file a review in his case," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava had said in the statement.

Srivastava had also underscored that India would do its utmost to ensure Jadhav’s safe return back home.

Jadhav, a retired navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in April 2017. India has rejected Pakistan's allegations about Jadhav's involvement in spying and subversive activities and said he was kidnapped from the Iranian port of Chabahar where he was running a business and had approached International Court of Justice (ICJ).

In July 2019, the ICJ ordered Pakistan not to execute Jadhav and asked it to reconsider the death sentence awarded to him by a military court. ICJ had ruled that Pakistan must undertake an "effective review and reconsideration" of the conviction and sentence of Jadhav and also to grant consular access to India without further delay.