MEA Joint Secretary Deepak Mittal Refuses to Shake Hands With Pak Official at ICJ, Greets Him With Warm ‘Namaste’

The moment was captured and the photograph from the hearing is doing rounds on social media platforms. 

Written by: India.com News Desk Edited by: Surabhi Shaurya

Updated: February 18, 2019, 10:43 PM IST

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https://www.india.com/news/india/mea-joint-secretary-deepak-mittal-refuses-to-shake-hands-with-pak-official-at-icj-greets-him-with-warm-namaste-3579509/ Copy

New Delhi: In a clear sign of suspended diplomatic relations, MEA joint secretary Deepak Mittal on Monday refused to shake hands with Pakistan’s Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), where the two officials were attending the proceedings in the high-profile Kulbhushan Jadhav case.

Before the hearing in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case, the Pakistani official reached out to Mittal to shake his hand but the latter snubbed him and responded him with a ‘Namaste’.  The moment was captured and the photograph from the hearing is doing rounds on social media platforms.

Earlier, during the first hearing in Jadhav case in The Hague, Netherlands, Mittal had chosen similar gesture to greet Pakistan’s Syed Faraz Hussain Zaidi.

Meanwhile, the hearing in the Kulbhushan Jadhav resume today before the International Court of Justice.

Arguing before the court, presided over by ICJ President Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf, India’s counsel Harish Salve said that  Jadhav’s continued custody without consular access should be declared unlawful and the court should order his release.

“Among other things considering the trauma he was been subjected to for three years, it is in the interest of justice and making human rights a reality, the court should direct his release,” he said adding Pakistan was using him as a propaganda tool.

Salve was presenting his arguments after India and Pakistan filed memorials and counter-memorials in the case in which the ICJ had in May 2017 stayed Jadhav’s execution.