ISLAMABAD: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will resume on February 18 public hearing in Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav’s case that was initiated by New Delhi against Islamabad in order to get consular access to its incarcerated citizen.
India claims that Jadhav was apprehended on trumped up charges.
The Pakistani delegation that will argue the case in the UN court, left for The Hague on Friday.
According to the court’s schedule, the public hearings in the case will commence from February 18 till 21 in The Hague. Attorney General Anwar Mansoor will lead Pakistani delegation while Harish Salve represents New Delhi in the world court.
Salve is expected to argue first on February 18 followed by English Queen’s Counsel Khawar Qureshi making submissions on February 19 from Islamabad’s side.
An Indian naval official, Commander Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav, was arrested by Pakistan in March 2016 from the impoverished and rebel-infested Baluchistan province during a counter-intelligence operation.
Islamabad claims he confessed to his involvement in subversive activities and espionage against Pakistan working for India’s premier intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
Placed on trial by a military court in Pakistan, Jadhav was found guilty and sentenced to death a month later.
India, however approached the world court in May 2016, invoking the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. Subsequently, the court passed an order directing Pakistan to stay the execution, pending a final decision.
Islamabad has made Jadhav’s statements public, but New Delhi has countered that the officer is retired, that he was kidnapped from Iran, and that he had been made to confess under duress to fabricated charges.
“We will accept the final decision of the ICJ,” a senior foreign office official said, adding “there are more charges of terrorism and sabotage that he will be charged with after the court’s judgment.”
It may be recalled that Pakistan gave access to Jhadav’s family on humanitarian grounds in December 2017. Officials say Islamabad would be willing to entertain a request in future if his family submits an application to meet the ill-fated spy.
“There are specific instances (of terrorism) that he has confessed to and those cases against him are pending” but India needs to answer six key points of Pakistan against its demand to ICJ to order for the return of Jadhav, the official explained to Arab News.
In a special handout given to Arab News, Pakistan argues that India failed to provide evidence that Jadhav was kidnapped. It also failed to explain why and when the officer retired and why he was in possession of an authentic Indian passport under a false cover Muslim name. Why is India demanding his return pending an international court decision, another question Islamabad raised? Consular access cannot be granted to a person implicated in national security matters under the 2008 Agreement on Consular Access between both sides, argues Pakistan.
India will scheduled to respond to submissions from Pakistan’s side before the ICJ on February 20 and the closing argument by Pakistan will be presented the day after. Islamabad expects the ICJ may deliver its final decision by summers this year.
Jadhav case: Pakistan, India to face off in ICJ on Monday
Jadhav case: Pakistan, India to face off in ICJ on Monday
- Pakistani delegation to argue case in UN court left for The Hague on Friday
- ‘Will except the final decision of the ICJ,’ Pakistan says
Pakistan’s HIV response under strain as global donors cut funding
- Only 21% of people living with HIV in Pakistan know their status, just 18% receive treatment
- UN agencies and civil society warn domestic funding must rise as international aid shrinks
ISLAMABAD: Funding reductions by international donors have forced sharp cutbacks in HIV prevention and support services across Pakistan, officials and experts say, raising fears that years of progress in reaching vulnerable populations could be reversed even as infections continue to rise.
Pakistan’s HIV response remains heavily dependent on financing from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFFATM), which has supported the country’s HIV programs for nearly two decades. The Global Fund reduced Pakistan’s total allocation from $250.8 million to $223.6 million under its Grant Cycle 7 (2023–2025), cutting $4 million from the national HIV/AIDS component.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP), which has served as the principal recipient of Global Fund financing since 2021, says the funding squeeze has already begun to affect outreach services for key populations.
Pakistan’s HIV epidemic remains small in absolute numbers compared with global hotspots, but it is one of the fastest-growing in Asia. UNAIDS has repeatedly warned that Pakistan is among the few countries where new HIV infections continue to rise, driven largely by low testing rates and infections concentrated among marginalized communities. This makes sustained prevention and outreach funding critical to preventing a wider public health crisis.
“The steady supply of quality-assured anti-retroviral drugs is our number one priority,” Richard Cunliffe, GFFATM project manager at UNDP Pakistan, told Arab News.
“So the impact of the cuts has really been felt by community-based organizations doing outreach to key population groups.”
During the previous grant cycle, UNDP supported the expansion of HIV treatment by helping the government establish around 98 antiretroviral therapy (ART) centers across Pakistan. Under the current cycle, its role has narrowed largely to prevention among key populations and procurement of HIV medicines due to tighter funding.
“These are highly marginalized communities... so the more cuts there are, the fewer people we can reach,” Cunliffe said.
‘TOTALLY DEPENDENT’
According to estimates from the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), around 350,000 people are living with HIV in Pakistan. Yet only 21 percent know their status and just 18 percent of those diagnosed are receiving treatment.
Civil society groups warn the situation is more fragile than official figures suggest.
“The HIV response in Pakistan is totally dependent on Global Fund funding,” said Asghar Satti, national coordinator of the Association of People Living with HIV (APLHIV). “There is no meaningful domestic funding, and international donors have also reduced their support.”
Satti pointed to the Global Fund’s upcoming 2027–2029 replenishment cycle, where donor pledges have fallen more than $6 billion short of the $18 billion target.
“When cuts happen globally, treatment is always prioritized,” he said. “But testing, counselling, prevention and community services are the first to suffer.”
He warned that some community organizations in Pakistan have already faced budget cuts of 40–45%, forcing closures of services such as food assistance, medical support and prevention programs.
“These are people who are already vulnerable. If those services disappear, the gains made over the last 20 to 25 years are at serious risk,” Satti said.
A government official, who did not wish to be named, said HIV response and prevention were “high priority” areas for the government and that it was doing its “best to bridge the gap.”
The impact of declining funds is already visible on the ground.
Muhammad Usman, a representative of the Dareecha Health Society working with male and transgender individuals living with HIV, said funding cuts over the past year had forced the group to drastically scale back operations.
“At one point, Dareecha had three offices and around 70 staff members,” he said. “Now those three offices have merged into one, and we are left with about 30 people.”
Outreach in cities such as Bahawalpur has stopped entirely, according to Usman.
“These were technical people from within the community, outreach workers, counsellors, who understood the realities on the ground,” he said.
“When they were let go, awareness and engagement dropped immediately.”
DOMESTIC FINANCING
Health experts warn that reduced outreach could further weaken Pakistan’s already fragile testing and treatment cascade, increasing the risk of undiagnosed infections and onward transmission.
“When fewer people are tested, more infections remain hidden,” Satti said. “That creates a serious public health risk.”
These pressures are compounded by deep-rooted stigma and the absence of sustained public awareness campaigns.
“HIV and people living with HIV are highly stigmatized and vulnerable,” Cunliffe said.
“It’s a very difficult disease because the disease is very much concentrated in these key population groups… which is often very criminalized and stigmatized.”
Modern antiretroviral therapy allows people living with HIV to lead normal lives and suppress viral loads, preventing transmission and enabling HIV-positive women to give birth to HIV-negative children.
“No one needs to die of HIV anymore,” Cunliffe said.
But with international funding expected to decline further after 2027, UNDP and civil society groups say Pakistan urgently needs to increase domestic financing to sustain its HIV response.
“The government is really going to have to bridge that gap and find ways to domestically finance [HIV response],” Cunliffe added.
