MEA Joint Secretary Deepak Mittal sends a clear message, denies Pakistani official's handshake

In what can be seen as a clear message to Pakistan, the MEA joint secretary Deepak Mittal refused to shake hands with Pakistani official at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and chose to greet him with a 'Namaste', a traditional Indian form of greeting. The two countries were in attendance for the oral proceedings of the Kulbhushan Jadhav case.

Deepak Mittal ignored the handshake gesture by Pakistan's AG Anwar Mansoor Khan before presenting oral arguments at the ICJ in The Hague.

Kulbhushan Jadhav, 48, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017. India moved the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in May the same year against the verdict.