New Delhi: India decided to move the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the issue of retired Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav as he is in illegal detention in Pakistan and his life is under threat, the Indian foreign ministry said Wednesday.
India’s comments come a day after the International Court of Justice at the Hague stayed the execution of Jadhav. The order came soon after India approached the ICJ against the death sentence handed down to Jadhav by Pakistan’s Field General Court Martial last month.
Indian foreign ministry spokesman Gopal Baglay said the decision was taken in the case after careful deliberation. He said India made 16 requests for consular access to Jadhav but there was no response from Pakistan on the demand.
The Pakistan government also did not respond to India’s request for papers relating to Jadhav’s case, he said.
There is also no information on the status of the appeal by Jadhav’s family against the order of a Pakistan military court, which sentenced him to death on charges of “spying.”
Indian foreign minister Sushma Swaraj had written to Sartaj Aziz , foreign affairs adviser to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, on 27 April, requesting that a visa be granted to Jadhav’s family to visit him, Baglay said.