Pakistan goes back on pledge to give access to Kulbhushan Jadhav

Islamabad must honour ICJ ruling, also show flexibility on Kartarpur corridor, say Indian officials.

Pakistan on Thursday said there was no plan to give India consular access for a second time to Kulbhushan Jadhav, a former naval officer currently on death row, and insisted that Indian pilgrims using the Kartarpur Corridor will have to pay a service fee of $20.

Vishnu Dutt Sharma, additional secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, Venu Rajamony, Ambassador of India to the Netherlands and Deepak Mittal, joint secretary of Indian Ministry of External Affairs are seen at the International Court of Justice before the issue of a verdict in the case of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was sentenced to death by Pakistan in 2017, in The Hague, Netherlands July 17, 2019.(REUTERS)

India responded to Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal’s remarks by saying it wanted the full implementation of the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) ruling granting consular access to Jadhav. India also called on Pakistan to show “some flexibility” on the Kartarpur corridor so that it could be opened in time for Guru Nanak’s 550th birth anniversary in November.

The exchange occurred against the backdrop of tensions between the two sides over India’s August 5 decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and reorganise the state into two Union Territories. India has said the changes are an internal matter and accused Pakistan of using the Kashmir issue to back cross-border terror.

Asked at a regular news briefing in Islamabad about Pakistan giving consular access to Jadhav again, spokesman Faisal said: “There is no other meeting planned.” He didn’t give details.

In New Delhi, external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said the ICJ’s judgment was in favour of India, which has told Pakistan that it should be fully implemented. “We would