In line with the verdict of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Pakistan has formally offered India consular access to Kubhushan Jadhav, its intelligence operative who was arrested in March 2016 in Balochistan and convicted a year later by a military court on charges of terrorism and espionage. While making the announcement on Thursday, the Foreign Office spokesman said Indian High Commission could avail the offer right the next day, ie, Friday, and that the reply from the other side was awaited. The other side's foreign ministry spokesman told journalists the proposal was being weighed and that people were in communication with Pakistan via diplomatic channels.
Considering the charge-sheet against Jadhav, modalities of the proposal were not going to be resolved so soon and in such straightforward a manner. According to press reports, the offer comes with two conditions: first, that a Pakistani officer would accompany Indian consular officers for the meeting with their man; and the second, that it would be covered by CCTV cameras, like in the case when Jadhav's wife and mother met him. Unsurprisingly, India wants unconstrained access, without the presence of any Pakistani or monitoring. In that regard its argument is that the ICJ verdict refers to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, which clearly states that consular officers shall be free to communicate with nationals of the sending state (in this case, India) and have access to them. Pakistan justifies its position pointing out that as per the court verdict, it is to act in accordance with the laws of the land. Regardless of the merit or demerit of these arguments, given the state of relations between the two countries and also the nature of the crimes involved, the squabble over every little detail of the modalities was expected.
Be that as it may, Pakistan should allow India free access to its in-service naval officer it sent to foment and carry out sabotage and terrorism activities in this country in pursuance of its National Security Adviser Ajit Doval's publically stated "strategy" of so-called "offensive defence." Islamabad has nothing to gain by putting restrictions on how the meeting should take place. It needs to focus on the next step. New Delhi is likely to raise a new issue by invoking the court ruling wherein it asked Pakistan to provide "effective review" and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence. Significantly, however, while noting that "Pakistan acknowledges that appropriate remedy would be effective review and reconsideration of the case" the court also said "the choice of means is left to Pakistan." Whatever the outcome of the review, it is a given that India would reject it as not being 'effective'. Pakistan should therefore ensure that there is no room for objection. Having nabbed Jadhav red-handed carrying an authentic Indian passport with a fictitious Muslim name, as validated by the ICJ, this country is in a strong position to prove its case. It would be wise to conduct the review process in a civilian court, and invite international observers to follow the proceedings so the world can see how New Delhi has been organizing terrorist activities to destabilize Pakistan.