NEW DELHI: India rejected Friday Pakistan's offer for consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav saying it only wanted ``unimpeded'' access - shorn of any rider - to the Indian national in Pakistan's custody. Official sources said Pakistan had been asked on Thursday to provide consular access to Jadhav ``in an environment free from the fear of intimidation and reprisal, in the light of the orders of the ICJ''.

After its response in the form of a note verbale, India is now awaiting Islamabad ’s reaction.

As reported by ToI Friday, Pakistan didn't just want one of its officials to be present in the room, where access to Jadhav was to be given to Indian officials, but also insisted on video and audio recording of the meeting. As sources here said, India was never really inclined to accepting these conditions.

With Pakistan not showing any sign of diluting any of these conditions, the government may consider moving ICJ again for what it has described as full consular access. Before that though, the government is likely to continue pressing Pakistan for the same diplomatically. This could mean again issuing a series of note verbale to Pakistan for access to Jadhav in line with the ICJ judgment.

"This is not an ordinary case and Pakistan’s offer was against the spirit of the ICJ judgment. The whole purpose of consular access will be defeated if it’s carried out in the way Pakistan is suggesting," said a source. Calling upon Pakistan to allow India consular access to Jadhav, the ICJ had asked Pakistan for an "effective’’ review and reconsideration of his conviction and death sentence by a military court. The ICJ had clearly said that Pakistan must allow Indian consular officers access to Jadhav and to arrange for his legal representation under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR) which states that consular officers "shall be free to communicate with nationals of the sending State (India in this case).

According to Pakistan, its offer conforms to "universal practices" and prison manuals adopted world over. The government though sees this as a red herring thrown in to distract attention from what it has repeatedly described as a farcical trial which came on the back of Pakistan’s "egregious" violation of VCCR.

"They imposed conditions which go way beyond any jail manual,’’ said a source.

Significantly for India, the ICJ had held that Pakistan breached the obligations incumbent upon it by not informing Jadhav immediately of his rights under Article 36, 1 (b), of VCCR. India believes it is impossible for Pakistan to have, as asked for by ICJ, an effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence to Jadhav until it allows consular access to Jadhav.

While consular access to Jadhav is important for India, as obvious from the fact that its case at the ICJ was built around Pakistan’s violation of VCCR in denying India that, the government is also reluctant to walk into what a source described as a trap. Without any privacy, Indian officials are only likely to run into a heavily tutored Jadhav, not unlike in his meeting with his family members in 2017, regurgitating Pakistan’s version of his arrest and terrorism charges against him.



In Video: Pakistan offers consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav