The Hague, July 17: The Pakistani counsel at the International Court of Justice has submitted a 400-page response to counter the arguments of their Indian counterpart in the case involving former naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav.

The detailed response submitted by Islamabad is aimed at negating India's claim that Kulbhushan was abducted by the Inter-State Intelligence (ISI) officials from the Chabahar port in Iran.

Pakistan has firmly asserted that Kulbhushan was arrested from the restive province of Balochistan, where they allege he was working on behest of the Indian intelligence to boost insurgency.

Kulbhushan, arrested in March 2016, was sentenced to death by a military court in Pakistan in April last year. On May 17, 2017, India moved the ICJ calling the trial against Kulbhushan "illegal" as the latter was not allowed consular access.

The ICJ provided interim relief to India in June last year, ordering Pakistan to stay the execution till the matter remains under the jurisdiction of The Hague-based judicial body.

"Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings," Judge Ronny Abraham, who is also the ICJ predicted, had said in his order.

Based on New Delhi's plea, Islamabad had allowed the family members of Kulbhushan - his wife and mother - to meet him. The family was separated from Kulbhushan through a glass ceiling and were asked to communicate on phone.

In a bid to suppress the allegations levelled by India, Pakistan has so far released two videos of Kulbhushan confessing to have been "sent" by India's Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) for "coordinating with insurgent groups in Balochistan". New Delhi, however, has denied the authenticity of Kulbhushan's purported confession, claiming he was coerced to issue the statement.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 17, 2018 07:11 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).