ICJ order is just a basic ruling, says Pakistani delegation

The head of Pakistan's delegation at the International Court of Justice on Thursday termed its order staying the execution of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav as a "basic ruling" and said the UN court had not mentioned anything about maintainability of the order.

Asked by reporters outside the ICJ if Pakistan will stay Jadhav's execution as ordered by the court, Moazzam Ahmad Khan initially did not reply.

He then said that the ruling was "basic". He did not comment on the merits of the case.

"This is a very basic judgment. What the court has done is that it has given a ruling on provisional measures," Khan told reporters.

"It did not say anything on the merit of maintainability of the order," he said.

In major relief for India, the International Court of Justice on Thursday ordered Pakistan not to execute Jadhav till a final decision is taken.

Judge Ronny Abraham, President of the court, also asked Pakistan to inform it of all the measures it has taken to implement the order.

India had sought the court's intervention for an immediate suspension of Jadhav's death sentence, fearing that the Indian national may be executed even before the ICJ decided the case.

Jadhav was awarded the death sentence by a Pakistani military court last month, a year after he was arrested on espionage charges. Islamabad has rejected 16 Indian requests for consular access to Jadhav, held at an unknown prison in Pakistan.