JADHAV CASE SET TO COME UP AT ICJ TOMORROW

THE HAGUE: India will ask the United Nations’ top court on Monday to order Pakistan to take an Indian prisoner off death row, in a case that could stoke fresh tensions after the deadly attack in Pulwama.

Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav was arrested in the restive southwestern Pakistani province of Baluchistan in March 2016 on charges of espionage and sentenced to death by a military court. The International Court of Justice urgently ordered Pakistan in 2017 to stay the execution of Jadhav, pending hearings on the broader Indian case that take place this week in The Hague.

The rare foray into the international courts for the nucleararmed rivals could be another flashpoint after Thursday’s suicide bombing in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 40 troops. New Delhi’s lawyers will present their arguments on Monday to the court, which was set up after World War II to resolve international disputes, followed by Pakistan’s on Tuesday. Jadhav, a former Indian navy officer, was accused of working for the Indian intelligence services in the province bordering Afghanistan, where Islamabad has long accused India of backing separatist rebels.