- India has sought an unimpeded consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav.This comes after Indian Government had said that it was evaluating Pakistan’s proposal to grant consular access to him.
- There are a number of issues on which discussions are being held between Indian and Pakistan such as (a)will officials from Pakistan be present (b)will there be a glass partition between them and (c)will there be an audio-visual recording of the discussion.
- The consular access was granted to India after the International Court of Justice(ICJ) had ordered that Pakistan must undertake an effective review and reconsideration of Jadhav’s conviction and sentencing and grant consular access to India.
- Consular access simply means that a diplomat or an official will have a meeting with the prisoner who is in the custody of another country.
- Usually,during the meeting,the diplomat will first confirm the identity of the person and will then ask some basic questions on how he/she is being treated in custody and what he/she wants.Depending on the response,the diplomat will report back to his/her government and the next steps will be initiated.
- The principle of consular access was agreed to in the 1950s and 60s. The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR) was framed in 1963 at the height of the Cold War.
