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Pakistan to provide India consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav today

NEW DELHI: Pakistan Sunday said they would give consular access for Kulbhushan Jadhav, a former naval officer, who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistan court for alleged spying. A tweet from Pakistan's foreign office said India would be given consular access on Monday "in line with Vienna Convention on Consular relations, ICJ judgement & the laws of Pakistan".

This is the first time, Kulbhusan Jadhav – sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in April 2017 – will be given consular access. After repeated requests, India flagged the matter to the International Court of Justice, where it also appealed for the cancellation of his death sentence.

In a related development, India and Pakistan will hold another technical meeting to finalise the remaining modalities of Kartarpur corridor in the Indian side of the Attari-Wagah border on Wednesday (September 4), sources from Pakistan told a news agency.

During the second meeting, which took place on July 14, the two sides agreed to complete the construction of the 4.19 kilometres long four-lane highway connecting the zero point of the Kartarpur corridor to Gurdaspur-Amritsar Highway by September 30, while the Passenger Terminal Complex at Dera Baba Nanak will be completed by October 31, ministry of home affairs had said in a statement.

Built with a budget of Rs 500 crore on a 15-acre land, the Passenger Terminal Complex have all public amenities to enable smooth passage of approximately 5,000 pilgrims per day.

SCL Das, joint secretary, internal security, in India's ministry of home affairs, who led the Indian delegation during the second Joint Secretary-level talks with their Pakistani counterparts in Wagah, said, "Both sides have agreed to maintain a channel of communication and work towards finalisation on the agreement of modalities. If required, our delegations could meet in India to formally conclude the agreement."

"We have been able to narrow down the differences since the first meeting held on March 14, 2019. Our technical teams will meet further to ensure seamless connectivity. Details will be further worked out," Das added.

The Kartarpur corridor along the India-Pakistan border is three kilometres away from Gurdaspur in Punjab, India. Once opened, this corridor will allow Sikh pilgrims direct access to the historic Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur in Pakistan, where Guru Nanak Dev passed away in 1539.

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