- FO says Pakistan’s legal team to submit reply in light of India spy’s confessional statements
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has received arguments submitted to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the case of Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, according to a statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here on Friday.
Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said that a legal team headed by Attorney General of Pakistan Ashtar Ausaf will read over the arguments and submit a reply in light of Jadhav’s confessional statements.
India submitted its arguments to the UN judicial organ on September 13. Pakistan will submit its reply in December. Experts believe that the Indian clemency bid is destined to fail at the ICJ as a terrorist’s case can’t be treated as a human issue.
New evidence has surfaced to suggest the involvement of Jhadav in abetting, planning and financing acts of terrorism in coastal areas of Balochistan and Sindh, with a special focus to areas along the route of multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The documents also suggest Jhadav also funded a campaign to aid and fund seditious elements in the two provinces against the state and his case can’t be given a humanitarian cover by India. A Foreign Office handout said that Pakistan has received the memorial (written pleadings) from the International Court of Justice, submitted by India in the Jadhav case.
“The memorial is under consideration by a team of lawyers and experts, led by the Attorney General of Pakistan,” the official statement said. “The position of the government, especially highlighting the acts of espionage, terrorism and sabotage committed by Jadhav in Pakistan, which resulted in the loss of precious and innocent lives of Pakistanis, would soon be submitted at the International Court of Justice,” the statement added.
NEW EVIDENCE: Exclusive documents available with Pakistan Today reflect that Jhadav was actively pursuing a strategy to fund and plan terrorist activities in the coastal areas of Balochistan which have largely been ignored in the past by the government.
The document reflects that Jhadav also funded terrorist elements to create unrest in the economic hub of Karachi where terrorist linked to stir ethnic riots between Baloch and Urdu speaking community. It suggest that Jhadav was involved in sponsoring and directing terrorism attacks and target killings in Gwadar and adjoining areas with a focus in coastal areas of Pisni, Jewani, Turbat, Panjgur etc.
The document says that Jhadav has confessed before a magistrate of his involvement in maneuvering Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and grenade attacks in Gwadar and Turbat along coastal areas linking the CPEC route.
The Indian agent also abetted attacks through anti-state elements against the law enforcement agencies including police, Frontier Constabulary (FC) in Turbat, Panjgur, Gwadar, Pisni, Jewani during 2014/2015 killing and injuring many civilians and soldiers.
“Jhadav also confessed of directing attacks in radar stations and civilian boats in the Arabian Sea opposite Jewani Port. He also admitted of funding subversive secessionist and terrorist elements through Hundi and Hawala channels for subverting youth against the country with a specific focus on coastal areas,” the document said.
Another document reflects how Jhadav had sponsored explosion at gas pipelines, electric pylons in Sibbi, Nasirabad, Dera Murad Jamali and other areas of Balochistan. “Jhadav also confessed of sponsoring IED explosions in Quetta in 2015 causing massive damage to life and property. He confessed of sponsoring attacks on Hazara and Shia devotees en-route to and from Iran,” the document added.
The confessional documents also reflect how Jhadav had launched a web of cyber space against Pakistan by developing several websites carrying content to provoke the youth against the state of Pakistan. The websites also carried subversive content in support of anti-Pakistan elements.
Earlier, Indian media reported that Ministry of External Affairs Joint Secretary VD Sharma left New Delhi for the Netherlands on the night of September 12 to hand over a hard copy of India’s reply to the ICJ. On June 16, the ICJ had turned down India’s request to give it six months to file pleadings before the court in Jadhav’s case.
Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf had said that India had sought until December to file its pleadings but the court allowed it until September 13 to do so. The ICJ also set December 13 as the deadline for Pakistan to submit its counter-pleadings in the case. On May 18, the ICJ ordered Pakistan to halt the execution of Jadhav until a final decision was made in the proceedings.
Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings, ordered Judge Ronny Abraham, president of the court, as he announced the decision. Jadhav was arrested on March 3, 2016 in a counter-intelligence operation from Mashkel area of Balochistan over his involvement in espionage and sabotage actives in Pakistan.
In his video statement, the incarcerated agent confessed to involvement in sabotage and espionage activities inside Pakistan, which has also been the crux of Islamabad’s case in the ICJ. On April 10, a Field General Court Martial — under the Pakistan Army Act, 1952 and Official Secrets Act, 1923 — awarded death sentence to the Indian agent for espionage and sabotage.