India’s application to have the International Court of Justice order Kulbhushan Jadhav’s release should be dismissed as inadmissible Pakistan’s counsel Khawar Qureshi argued on Tuesday at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, in a heated, and often personal presentation that repeatedly referenced Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accused India of engaging in “political theatre,” “grandstanding,” and presenting its case in “bad faith.”
In presentations that contrasted with the more muted tone of India’s opening oral arguments the day before, Mr. Qureshi and Pakistani’s Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan accused India of failing to answer fundamental questions and of “causing terrorism and training terrorists to act in Pakistan” and wanting to “destroy” the country.
Pakistan had suffered more than 74,000 terrorism-related casualties and fatalities that had been caused “mainly by the interference” of India, said Mr. Khan in opening remarks.
Mr. Khan then accused India of having “detained and tortured” him as a prisoner of war 20 years before. “I have been a victim of Indian brutalities,” he told the court, in his opening submission, after he had been told to proceed with setting out Pakistan’s case, despite their putting forward a request for an adjournment after former Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani was taken ill on Monday, and has not been able to return to the court.
Pakistan had invoked the right for Pakistan to appoint an ad hoc judge because of one of the ICJ judges is Indian, and because of Mr. Jillani’s absence. Mr. Khan on Tuesday called for the court to allow for another individual to be sworn in to replace Mr. Jillani and for them to be given “sufficient time” to review the case. “This is a matter of great concern for Pakistan,” he said.
“The court will provide its response to your questions in due time,” ICJ President Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf told Pakistan during the proceedings.
The three-hour-long hearing – during which Mr. Qureshi was asked to slow down the pace of his presentation several times by the President – followed opening arguments by Harish Salve, India’s counsel, and joint secretary Deepak Mittal , who accused Pakistan of “knowingly, wilfully and brazenly” flouting the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.