Pakistan says India using UN court for 'political theater'

Journalists, foreground, takes images at the International Court of Justice, or World Court, in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, Feb. 18, 2019, where India is taking Pakistan to the United Nations' highest court in an attempt to save the life of an Indian naval officer sentenced to death last month by a Pakistani military court after being convicted of espionage. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Pakistan's attorney general Anwar Mansoor Khan, right, greets Deepak Mittal, the joint secretary of India's Foreign Ministry, prior to India presenting oral arguments at the International Court of Justice, or World Court, in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, Feb. 18, 2019. India is taking Pakistan to the United Nations' highest court in an attempt to save the life of an Indian naval officer sentenced to death last month by a Pakistani military court after being convicted of espionage.(AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Pakistan has accused India of using the United Nations' highest court for "political theater" as it urged judges to dismiss an Indian case seeking to save an alleged spy from execution.

The International Court of Justice case centers on the fate of Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was convicted of espionage by a Pakistani military tribunal and sentenced to death in April 2017. India denies Jadhav is a spy and has asked the court to order his release because he was denied access to consular help and not allowed to choose his own defense lawyer.

Pakistani Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan on Tuesday insisted that Jadhav was an Indian spy sent to Pakistan's southwestern province of Baluchistan to destabilize the country.

Khan says "India's claim for relief ... must be dismissed."