Pak Foreign Minister claims 'solid evidence' against former naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav

Islamabad: Pakistan's new Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Thursday claimed that it has "solid evidence" against Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav and is hopeful of winning the case against him at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), media reports said here.Jadhav, 47, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on 'spying' charges in April 2017 - something denied by the Indian government outright.

New Delhi had subsequently moved the ICJ in May 2017 and the world court halted Jadhav's execution pending the final verdict by it."We have solid evidence against Jadhav and are hopeful we will win the case in the ICJ," Qureshi told the media in his home city of Multan in southern Punjab, according to reports.Both India and Pakistan have already submitted their detailed pleas and responses in the world court.

The ICJ has set a week in February 2019 for the hearing of former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav.Pakistan has in 2016 and 2017 also denied India "consular access" to Jadhav despite numerous requests on the ground that it was not applicable in cases related to spies.After much confabulation and diplomatic tussle, Jadhav's wife and mother visited Pakistan in December last year.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had told Parliament that Pakistan had used the emotional meeting between Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, on death row in Pakistan, and his family this week to score propaganda points.Ms Swaraj also accused Pakistan of not following the spirit of the understanding reached between the two nations.(UNI)