Puncturing Pakistan's claim that it arrested Kulbhushan Jadhav on its own soil, Amjad Shoaib - an ex-ISI official and a retired Lieutenant General - has admitted that the ex-Indian Navy officer was captured in Iran .

It now remains to be seen if India chooses to quote Shoaib at the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) next hearing.

In a breather for India, the ICJ had on May 18 stayed the execution of 46-year-old Jadhav, who was sentenced to death last month by a Pakistan military court that convicted him of alleged spying and subversive activities.

The retired Indian Navy officer has been in Pakistan's custody for more than a year.

Pakistan claims its security forces arrested the Indian national from its restive Balochistan province on March 3 last year after he reportedly entered from Iran.

However, India maintains that he was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Navy.

PAKISTAN SEEKS EARLY HEARING

Pakistan has asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for an early hearing in the case, the news agency PTI reported on Tuesday citing a Pakistani media report.

Amid anger at home over losing the first round in the world court, Pakistan had last Friday filed a plea in the ICJ for it to rehear the case within six weeks, after the Nawaz Sharif government was slammed by the opposition for "mishandling" the case.

Pakistan's Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz said Islamabad, with a new team of lawyers, will put forward its case against letting off Jadhav.

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