- Pakistan has said that it will grant consular access to India for Kulbhushan Jadhav on September 2,2019.
- This decision comes after the International Court of Justice(ICJ) had ordered Pakistan to 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.
