The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has set separate deadlines for India and Pakistan for the filing of the written pleadings by them in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case. April 17 and July 17 have been fixed as “time-limits” for India and Pakistan respectively. 47-year-old Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April last year. This prompted India to move the Hague-based ICJ in May. Subsequently, a 10-member bench of the ICJ on May 18 restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav till adjudication of the case. The principal judicial organ of the UN released a statement which said that the international top court authorised the submission of a reply by India and of a rejoinder by Pakistan in the Jadhav case. “The Court fixed 17 April 2018 and 17 July 2018 as the respective time-limits for the filing of these written pleadings”, said the statement issued last week. The statement further said the ICJ made its decision taking into account the views of the parties and the circumstances of the case. Pakistan claims its security forces arrested Jadhav from its restive Balochistan province on March 3 last year after he reportedly entered from Iran. India, however, maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Indian Navy. How Kulbhushan Jadhav drama unfolds hereon will depend on how matters are worked out away from media’s gaze Recently, Pakistan had raked up the Jadhav issue in the UNSC after it was accused by India, the US and Afghanistan, for providing safe havens to terrorists. Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN Maleeha Lodhi was responding to Indian Ambassador to the UN Syed Akbaruddin who said Pakistan needs to change its “mindset” of differentiating between good and bad terrorists.“Those who talk of changing mindset need to look within, at their own record of subversion against my country as our capture of an Indian spy has proven beyond doubt”, Lodhi had told the members of the UN Security Council, without naming Jadhav.
