New Delhi: Hours after the International Court of Justice stayed the execution order of a Pakistani military court in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case, Pakistan Foreign Office responded by saying the ICJ had "no jurisdiction in the matters of national security".
Accusing India of "hiding its face", spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said that Pakistan will present solid evidence against Jadhav in the international court. "India desperately tried to divert the world attention by portraying the entire case from a humanitarian angle."
Moazzam Ahmad Khan, head of Pakistan's delegation at the ICJ, said that what the court had pronounced was "very basic." "The court has said nothing on the merits or the maintainability of the case against Jadhav," he said.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Attorney General, Ashtar Ausaf Ali, in a statement, said that the ICJ has suggested, by way of provisional measures, the status quo be maintained in the case.
Emphasising that this provision had no bearing whatsoever on the final decision of the court, Ali said: "The provisional measures are a procedural process only to enable the Court to have full consideration at a later hearing."
"To recall, we had, in our presentation, on 15 May, proposed to the court that a final hearing is held on the merits and maintainability of the case as early as possible. We are determined to pursue this case to its logical end."
However, Gopal Bagley, the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, said that the ICJ decision was unanimous, favourable and unambiguous.
"It's a matter of great relief," he said adding that he didn't want to respond to Pakistan Attorney General's assertion that the court's verdict was not binding on anybody. However, Bagley hoped Pakistan had "read the order". "It is legally binding."
The Hague-based ICJ heard the two sides on Monday where Pakistan had challenged the jurisdiction of the court but in its decision the court prime facie exercised the jurisdiction and accepted Indian pleas.
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