Pak Declines ‘Unimpeded Consular Access’ to Kulbhushan: Report

After its recent downgrading of diplomatic and trade ties with India, Pakistan on Thursday, 8 August, reportedly turned down India’s demand of “unimpeded consular access” to Kulbhushan Jadhav.

According to a Hindustan Times report quoting sources, Islamabad has sent a letter to New Delhi, offering “consular access with conditions attached.”

The development comes after last week India had made clear its position that the consular access must be “unimpeded” and should be in the light of the judgment by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Here is how the things have panned out so far:

• Late last month, Pakistan offered India consular access to Jadhav. The offer came two weeks after the Hague-based ICJ ordered Pakistan to grant consular access to Jadhav without further delay.
• Then last week, India sent a communication to Pakistan, virtually turning down Islamabad's conditional offer of providing consular access. Pakistan had put a set of conditions for the consular access, which included presence of a Pakistani official when Indian officials meet Jadhav.
• India has been maintaining that Jadhav must be given "full consular access" as laid out in the ICJ verdict.
• Now, reportedly, Pakistan has turned down India's demand.

Recent ‘Downgrade’ in Indo-Pak Relations

In the backdrop of the Indian government’s recent decision to effectively revoke Article 370 of the Constitution and bifurcate the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan has taken a series of steps.

Downgrading Diplomatic Relations

On Wednesday, following a meeting involving Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and the country’s National Security Committee (NSC), Islamabad expelled Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria.

Pakistan also decided not to send its High Commisioner-designate to India.

“Our ambassadors will no longer be in New Delhi and their counterparts here will also be sent back,” Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said.

Suspending Trade

Pakistan also announced that it would suspend the bilateral trade and review the "bilateral arrangements," alleging that New Delhi's move to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir was "unilateral and illegal."

India’s Response

Reacting to Pakistan’s decisions, India on Thursday termed Pakistan's announcement to downgrade diplomatic ties with it as an attempt to present an alarming picture to the world about relations between the two countries.

The Ministry of External Affairs said the Constitution was, is and will always be a sovereign matter and recent developments pertaining to Article 370 are entirely India's internal affair.

The ministry said India regretted the steps announced by Pakistan on Wednesday, and urged Islamabad to review them so that normal channels for diplomatic communications are preserved.

"Recent decisions by the government and Parliament of India are driven by a commitment to extend to Jammu and Kashmir opportunities for development that were earlier denied by a temporary provision in the Constitution," the ministry said.