India and Pakistan are set for a showdown at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which will begin a four-day public hearing on February 18 in the case of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on espionage charges.

India moved the ICJ in May 2017 against the “farcical trial” by the military court of Pakistan against 48-year-old Jadhav.

Jadhav, a retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by the court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017.

India first approached the ICJ on May 8, 2017 for the “egregious violation” of the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 1963, by Pakistan by repeatedly denying it consular access to Jadhav.

A 10-member bench of the ICJ, which was set up after World War II to resolve international disputes, on May 18, 2017 had restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav till adjudication of the case.

The ICJ has set a timetable for the public hearing from February 18 to 21 at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the Netherlands.

While India will argue first on February 18, Pakistan will get its chance to make submissions on February 19. Then India will reply on February 20, while Islamabad will make its closing submissions on February 21.

It is expected that the ICJ’s decision may be delivered by the summer of 2019.

While maintaining that India remains committed to make all possible efforts to secure and protect the rights of Jadhav, foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar did not make public New Delhi’s plan of action.

“India will present its case before the court. Since the matter is sub judice, it is not appropriate for me to state our position in public. Whatever we have to do, we will do at the court,” Kumar said.

Pakistan’s attorney general Anwar Mansoor will lead the Pakistani delegation at the ICJ. Both India and Pakistan have already submitted their detailed pleas and responses in the world court.

Pakistan claims that its security forces arrested Jadhav from restive Balochistan province on March 3, 2016 after he reportedly entered from Iran. However, India maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Navy. Jadhav’s sentencing had evoked a sharp reaction in India.

Pakistan had rejected India’s plea for consular access to Jadhav, claiming New Delhi wants access to get information gathered by its “spy”. However, Pakistan facilitated a meeting of Jadhav with his mother and wife in Islamabad on December 25, 2017.

The hearings at the ICJ is taking place four days after one of the worst terror attacks in Jammu & Kashmir that killed 41 CRPF soldiers. The attack happened when a suicide bomber of Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) blew up an explosive-laden vehicle near a convoy of CRPF buses in Pulwama district.