A former ISI official has said that Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by a military court, was arrested from Iran and not from Balochistan.
The official, who has been identified as retired Lieutenant General Shoaib, made this sensational revelation during a program on a TV channel Aawaz Today.
The development is important because Islamabad has maintained that Jadhav was arrested from Balochistan province on March 3, 2016. Pakistan claimed that the former Indian Navy officer confessed in a video that he was involved in spying and terror activities in Balochistan, a charge rejected by India.
Earlier, former German Ambassador in Pakistan Gunter Mulack had also said that Jadhav was kidnapped in Iran by Taliban and then ‘sold’ to ISI.
Meanwhile, it is learnt that Pakistan has asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to hold an early hearing in the case.
Citing sources, the Express Tribune reported that the Pakistan Foreign Office has sent a letter to the Hague-based ICJ's registrar, expressing Pakistan's desire for a quick hearing, preferably over the next few weeks.
The request was made in view of the upcoming elections for ICJ judges, scheduled to be held in November, it quoted the sources as saying.
A senior official, however, was quoted as saying that the ICJ might resume the hearing in the case in October.
India on May 8 had moved the ICJ against the death penalty handed down to Jadhav by a Pakistani military court. The court had on May 18 directed Pakistan not to execute Jadhav till a final decision is taken.
Jadhav's case is the latest flash-point in the tensions between Pakistan and India. The two countries last faced off at the ICJ 18 years ago when Islamabad sought its intervention over the shooting down of its naval aircraft.
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