Month: September 2019

Kulbhushan Jadhav, the Indian national on death row in jail in Islamabad on alleged spying charges will be given consular access on Monday in line with Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, Pakistan said on Sunday.

“Consular access for Indian spy Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav is being provided on Monday 2 September 2019, in line with Vienna Convention on Consular relations, ICJ (International Court of Justice) judgement & the laws of Pakistan,” tweeted Spokesperson of foreign office Mohammed Faisal.

India, which has asked for “unimpeded” consular access for Jadhav is yet to comment on the matter.

This comes a month after Pakistan Foreign Office had announced that they would grant consular access to the 49-year-old Indian prisoner. India did not agree to the meeting since the terms and conditions were not suitable.

In July, the ICJ ruled in favour of India on the issue of granting consular access to the former naval officer.

The ICJ, in its ruling, asked Pakistan to ensure “effective review and reconsideration of his conviction and sentences”.

In a major win for India, the world court had continued its stay on the execution of the Indian national, held in a Pakistani jail on allegations of spying and found that Pakistan breached the Vienna Convention by not giving him consular access. (ANI)

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The United States and Taliban are on the threshold of reaching an agreement to end the 18-year long war and initiate inter-Afghan talks, Washington’s peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said on Sunday, following the conclusion of the ninth round of peace talks.

“We are at the threshold of an agreement that will reduce violence and open the door for Afghans to sit together to negotiate an honourable & sustainable peace and a unified, sovereign Afghanistan that does not threaten the United States, its allies, or any other country,” Khalilzad wrote on Twitter.

The agreement between the Taliban and the US is centred around the latter’s promise to withdraw its troops from the war-torn country, in exchange for the guarantee by the former that the Afghan soil, particularly areas under the Taliban’s control, would not become a platform for transnational terrorism.

Khalilzad further informed that he would be travelling to Kabul later today for “consultations” following the end of the final day of the latest round of peace talks.

The talks, however, were overshadowed by overnight clashes between the Taliban and the Afghan government forces in Kunduz, which claimed the lives of 10 people, reported Sputnik news agency.

(ANI)

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