India objects to Pak''s use of abusive language at ICJ

The Hague, February 20 

India on Wednesday strongly objected to the abusive language used by Pakistan's counsel in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), urging the UN court to draw a redline.

Harish Salve, the former solicitor general of India while presenting India's case before the ICJ, drew the court's attention to the abusive language used by Pakistan through its counsel Khawar Qureshi on the second day of the hearing.

"The language echoed in this court... perhaps this Court may lay down some redlines. The transcript is peppered with words such as shameless, nonesense, disgraceful... India takes exception to being addressed in this fashion in an international court.

"India strongly objects to abusive language of Pakistan's counsel," Salve said as the International Court of Justice began the second round of public hearing in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case.

Jadhav, a retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of "espionage and terrorism" after a closed trial in April 2017. His sentencing evoked a sharp reaction in India.

On Wednesday, India will have a maximum of 90 minutes to submit its final arguments in the case. Pakistan will also get 90 minutes to respond to India's arguments on Thursday.

The ICJ is expected to deliver its verdict in the summer of 2019. 

Twitter suspends personal account of Pak FO spokesman 

Islamabad: Twitter suspended the personal account of Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal following complaints by the Indian authorities to the microblogging website, according to media reports on Wednesday.

According to Geo News, Faisal was giving "minute-by-minute updates on the Kulbhushan Jadhav case", which is being heard at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and was also posting tweets on what he called the "Indian atrocities" in Jammu and Kashmir.

Following his action, India raised the issue to the Twitter management that eventually led to the suspension of his personal Twitter account late Tuesday, it said.

The account was later reactivated on Wednesday after remaining suspended for few hours. — PTI