Pakistan will be constituting a new team of lawyers to "vigorously" present its case against Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav at the International Court of Justice, Pakistan’s ambassador to India, Sartaz Aziz said on Friday.
Earlier on Thursday, the Pakistan Foreign Office said that it does not accept the International Court of Justice's jurisdiction in matters related to national security, after the UN court stayed the execution of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav whom Pakistan had accused of being a spy for India.
Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria also hit out at India, saying the country has been "trying to hide its real face" by taking the case of Jadhav to ICJ.
The Hague-based ICJ heard the two sides on Monday, where Pakistan had challenged the jurisdiction of the court, but in its decision the court prima facie exercised the jurisdiction and accepted Indian pleas.
The court on Thursday instructed Pakistan to take all "necessary measures at its disposal" to ensure that Jadhav was not executed, pending a final decision to be made at a later date.
The Pakistani government faced a lot of flak for its handling of the Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav’s case at the ICJ, with several legal experts in the country questioning the strategy adopted.
The Express Tribune reported that the Attorney General for Pakistan recommended other counsel for the case, but the recommendation wasn’t taken. The case was fought by Khawar Qureshi, a Qatar-based lawyer and also a London Queen’s Counsel.
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