Blow to Pak claims: Jadhav was held in Iran, says ex-ISI official

Dealing a blow to Pakistan's claim that former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav was arrested on its soil, retired Lieutenant General Amjad Shoaib, formerly a member of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), has said Jadhav was in fact captured in Iran.

It now remains to be seen if India chooses to quote Shoaib at the next hearing in the International Court of Justice's (ICJ).

The ICJ had on 18 May stayed the execution of 46-year-old Jadhav, sentenced to death last month by a Pakistan military court which convicted him of spying and subversive activities.

The retired Indian Navy officer has been in Pakistan's custody for more than a year.

Pakistan claims its security forces arrested the Indian national from the turmoil-ridden Balochistan province on 3 March last year after he entered the province from Iran.

However, India maintains that he was kidnapped from Iran, where he had business interests after retiring from the Navy.

Pakistan has asked the ICJ for an early hearing in the case, PTI reported on Tuesday citing a Pakistani media report.

Having lost the first round in the international court, Pakistan had last Friday filed a plea for the ICJ to rehear the case within six weeks, after the Nawaz Sharif government was slammed by the opposition for "mishandling" the case.

Pakistan's foreign affairs advisor Sartaj Aziz said Islamabad, with a new team of lawyers, will put again forward its case against Jadhav.