Pakistan files today with International Court of Justice

Pakistan is today filing its reply in the International Court of Justice's Jadhav Case (India v. Pakistan). According to this report in The Nation, a senior Pakistani official stated:

“We will provide evidence to the ICJ to prove his role in the killings of so many Pakistanis. His case at the ICJ should be dismissed.”

Another official said Pakistan’s response was based on the Vienna Convention and country’s ambassador in the Netherlands will submit the reply. Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf Ali is overseeing the high-profile case on behalf of Pakistan.

The official said Pakistan’s response included concrete evidence of Research and Analysis Wing agent Kulbhushan Jadhav’s confession of involvement in terror-related activities and rejection of India’s stance submitted with the ICJ.

“Pakistan’s argument is that the ICJ has no jurisdiction to hear the case of a terrorist who has orchestrated bloodshed in Pakistan. We are hopeful we will win our case,” he said.

The case may reveal details of the procedures employed by Pakistan's military courts. India's merits submission cannot be found on the ICJ's case web page. According to this report, at the Human Rights Council last month in Geneva, "India recommended that military courts in Pakistan should be barred from trying civilians and allow their monitoring by international observers and human rights organisations."