Id's Kulbhushan Yadav Verdict

摘要

A serving officer of (Lieutenant Commander's rank) of the Indian Navy (commissioned 1991) involved in subversive activities inside Pakistan, Indian RAW agent Kulbhushan Yadav was captured in Balochistan in March 2016. During videotaped interrogation, Kulbhushan explained his motivation for working for RAW as the attack on the Indian Parliament in December 2001. He admitted in the video that he was involved in acts of violence inside Pakistan aimed at maiming and killing Pakistanis irrespective of whether they were in uniform or non-combatant civilians. Tried by a Pakistan military court he was given the death sentence on 10 April 2017. This was a major security success for Pakistani intelligence agencies. India and RAW never owned up to this man or to his actions. They even denied that he was caught in Balochistan on the Pakistani side of the border but alleged that he had been abducted from Iran. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) verdict that rejected the Indian demand for Yadav's release and repatriation implicitly (and by default) accepts the sentence given by a Pakistan military court; the only reason for some relief for India is the ruling of "Consular Access" that has been given to India. This decision was because the ICJ did not recognize as valid the bilateral Indo-Pak agreement on Consular Access since it was not registered with the United Nations (UN). The bilateral India-Pak Consular Access Agreement signed by both states in 2008 that explicitly denies consular access to spies. Unfortunately Pakistan did not get this registered with the UN. If Pakistan had registered the law with the UN the involvement of the ICJ would not have been possible. India and Pakistan both probably deferred such a step because both were aware such a situation could happen. Being signatory to the agreement India knew about it but decided to disregard its own law. It is sheer hypocrisy to sign an agreement and then complain when it is used. India tried to somehow slip out of its responsibility by involving the ICJ and for the ICJ to rely on the international media which India has used to assiduously propagate adversely about Pakistan as being a promoter of terrorism. The ICJ verdict on the contrary exposed India as a terrorist state sponsoring terrorism.