India on Thursday asked Pakistan to address the 'shortcomings' in a bill brought out to facilitate reviewing the case of Indian death row convict Kulbhushan Jadhav, saying the proposed law does not create a mechanism to reconsider it as mandated by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Colourful lights illuminated buildings and earthen lamps dotted houses as people across the country celebrated Diwali with pomp on Monday after two years of muted festivities due to the pandemic.
The ordinance was launched to implement the verdict of the ICJ which asked Pakistan to provide effective review of the sentence given to Jadhav my a military court. Jadhav, the 50-year-old retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of 'espionage and terrorism' in April 2017.
The retired Indian Navy officer is on death row in Pakistan which has accused him of spying.
India has been demanding "unimpeded" consular access to Jadhav as mandated by the International Court of Justice .
On questions about remarks by Pakistan PM's advisor on national security Moeed Yusuf that India has sent a message to Pakistan with a desire for conversation, MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, "Let me make it clear that no such message was sent from our side."
One of the conditions put by Pakistan reportedly was the presence of a Pakistani official when the Indian prisoner is allowed to meet Indian officials as part of the consular access.
"We will decide a further course of action after receiving a detailed report from our Charge d' Affaires and determining the extent of conformity to the ICJ directives," said the MEA spokesperson.
Kulbhushan Jadhav, the retired Indian Navy commander who was sentenced to death in a Pakistan court this week, will celebrate his 47th birthday on Sunday, April 16.
"The HAMMER missiles are in the process of being integrated with the LCA Tejas and it will significantly enhance its capability to take out hardened targets from stand-off distances," government sources told ANI.
The warships will be armed with BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles which can reach targets 295 km away.
Pakistan's lawyer Khawar Qureshi also alleged that Jadhav was an "instrument of India's official policy of terror".
Pakistan claimed that Jadhav had refused to file a review plea on the Pakistani court military court's judgment which awarded the death penalty to the former naval officer on charges of espionage. India said that he had been coerced into doing that.
The tri-services chiefs while addressing the media also said that the forces were in a state of heightened readiness to deal with any eventuality.
The terrorist attack on Karachi's Mehran Naval Station on May 22 was conceived and launched by India with the primary objective of killing the Chinese engineers present there, a Pakistani newspaper has claimed, citing 'informed sources'.
It is quite likely that the Pakistanis are cleverly using the Jadhav card to derail the outcome of the JIT process.
Obama lied to Americans about the role of Pakistan special forces in the raid which killed Osama Bin Laden so he could take credit for the mission, an expose published has claimed.
Xi Jinping's recent actions in South Asia have amply demonstrated the disastrous impact of China's embrace, observes Jayadeva Ranade, the retired senior RA&W officer and China expert.
Death came calling for the 71- year-old terrorist from the sky on Sunday morning in Kabul.
Police said the accused, identified as Raju Lakshman, was arrested on Wednesday from Rakhi Gaj area of Dera Ghazi Khan district, some 400-km from Lahore.
In its 42-page ruling, the ICJ ruled that Pakistan had "breached" the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations, which gives countries the right to consular access when their nationals are arrested abroad.
'Pakistan has completely failed to provide the remedy as directed by the ICJ and India reserves its position in the matter, including its rights to avail of further remedies'
During the meeting, the prime minister is understood to have taken stock of the situation along the Line of Control and International Border.
The Shiv Sena on Monday said it was not surprising to see the Bharatiya Janata Party winning the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker's election as the Sena was broken and 'someone from the party' was pitted against it.
President Ram Nath Kovind will arrive in Dhaka on Wednesday on a maiden three-day State visit during which he will hold talks with his counterpart and attend the golden jubilee celebrations of Bangladesh's 1971 independence from Pakistan.
In the video clip, Gen Rawat paid glowing tributes to the Indian armed forces personnel killed in the 1971 war with Pakistan and appealed to the citizens to join the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the victory.
The navy, police, the anti-terror squad and the army are involved in a massive search operation. Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore reports
Speaking in parliament during the budget session, Khan said the American forces entered Pakistan and killed Laden without informing Islamabad after which everyone started abusing his country.
Jadhav, a retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017. Weeks later, India approached the ICJ against Pakistan for denial of consular access to Jadhav and to challenge the death sentence.
Pakistan's top civilian and military leadership knew about Osama bin Laden's presence in the country much before the US Navy SEALs killed him in a raid in 2011, the nation's then defence minister has claimed.
Ghafoor said the reports of the amendment in the Pak Army Act to implement ICJ verdict regarding Jadhav are 'incorrect'.
President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday visited the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Museum here and paid homage to the founding father of Bangladesh.
India's doctrinal policy shift in combating terror by carrying out the Balakot air strikes inside Pakistan, appointment of a Chief of Defence Staff and hastening work on military modernisation marked a new beginning in 2019 in dealing with complex security challenges.
The Spice-2000 bombs can hit targets up to 70 km and the new variant inducted in the force can also destroy bunkers and hardened shelters
India has issued demarche against Pak over Kulbhushan Jadhav's death sentence.
India based its case on two broad issues -- breach of Vienna Convention on consular access and the process of resolution.
In view of increased threat along maritime border with Pakistan, Navy will commission a new base near Porbandar in Gujarat to strengthen surveillance and security apparatus in the region.
Pakistan had first offered the consular access to Jadhav on August 2 but India had insisted that the consular access should be 'effective and unhindered'.
The Lahore High Court Bar Association said on Friday that it will take action against any lawyer who extends his services to Jadhav.
'Should the two armies clash in a conventional battlefield, the advantage will pass more and more to the Indians as the battle progresses,' says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
