ISLAMABAD (DNA) – Pakistan has decided to grant consular access to Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav who had been convicted by Pakistani courts for espionage.

Foreign office in statement said, Pursuant to the decision of the ICJ, Commander Kulbushan Jadhav has been informed of his rights under Article 36, Paragraph 1(b) of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

As a responsible state, Pakistan will grant consular access to Commander Kulbushan Jadhav according to Pakistani laws, for which modalities are being worked out, it added.

On July 17, the ICJ had rejected remedies sought by India, including annulment of military court decision convicting Kulbhushan Jadhav, his release and safe passage to India.

Announcing the verdict, Judge Abdulqavi Ahmed Yousaf told Pakistan to review the death sentence for the Indian spy, saying Islamabad violated his rights to consular visits.

The judge remarked that Pakistan and India are signatories of the Vienna Convention.

“A continued stay of execution constitutes an indispensable condition for the effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence of Mr Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav,” it ruled

The court while finding Jadhav guilty of committing terrorist activities inside Pakistan, ordered that the Indian spy cannot be handed over to India and will remain in Pakistan’s custody.

The Indian navy officer was arrested in Pakistan’s province of Balochistan in March 2016. On March 25 2016, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) released his confessional statement of Jadhav in which he claimed to be a serving Indian Navy officer.