Amid heightened tensions with Pakistan over the Pulwama terror attack, in which 40 CRPF jawans were martyred, Indian diplomats at the hearing of the Kulbhushan Jadhav case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) snubbed their Pakistani counterparts by refusing to shake hands with them.

A curt namaste with folded hands was all that the senior Indian diplomats Deepak Mittal, Joint Secretary heading the Pakistan Division in the External Affairs Ministry, and Venu Rajamoney, India's Ambassador to the Netherlands, offered when Pakistan's Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan wanted to shake hands ahead of the hearing at The Hague.

The incident occurred before the Indian team was to present their arguments in front of the ICJ. Mansoor, along with his delegation, had walked up to the Mittal with an extended hand. However, Mittal refused to shake his hand.

Deepak mittal
India's Deepak Mittal refuses to shake hands with Pakistan's AG Anwar Mansoor KhanTwitter/NITISH THAKUR

This is not the first time that India snubbed Pakistan with a Namaste. In 2017, an Indian diplomat refused to shake the hand of his Pakistan counterpart at the ICJ in The Hague for Jadhav's hearing.

Deepak Mittal had also declined to shake the hand of Mohammad Faisal, Pakistan's DG for South Asia and SAARC and gave a Namaste instead.

Mittal is the head of the Pakistan division of the Ministry of External Affairs.

Pakistani security forces allegedly arrested retired naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav in the Balochistan province in 2016 and a military court, in 2017, had sentenced him to death on the counts of espionage and terrorism citing that he is an Indian spy. Pakistan claimed that Jadhav entered the country illegally through Iran.

However, India said that Pakistan kidnapped Jadhav from Iran, where he ran some businesses after he left the Navy. India had moved the ICJ to out a stop to Jadhav's execution.

India Today reports that a 10-member bench of the ICJ at The Hague asked Pakistan not to execute him till the end of the case.

The tweet found a lot of support from Mittal's Twitter followers.

Some people criticized Mittal

Amid heightened tensions with Pakistan over the Pulwama terror attack, members of the Indian delegation at the hearing of the Kulbhushan Jadhav case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) snubbed their Pakistani counterparts by refusing to shake hands with them.

A curt namaste with folded hands was all that the senior Indian diplomats Deepak Mittal, Joint Secretary heading the Pakistan Division in the External Affairs Ministry, and Venu Rajamoney, India's Ambassador to the Netherlands, offered when Pakistan's Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan wanted to shake hands ahead of the hearing at The Hague.