Pakistan rejects Indian Spokesperson’s remarks on Jammu and Kashmir

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan on Friday rejected the remarks made by the Spokesperson of Indian Ministry of External Affairs regarding references to Jammu and Kashmir in Joint Press Release issued on the occasion of 3rd Session of Strategic Dialogue between the Foreign Ministers of Pakistan and China.

“We reject the gratuitous, unwarranted and baseless remarks made by the Spokesperson of the Indian MEA. India has no locus standi on the matter whatsoever,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said while responding to media queries in that regard.

“Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally recognized dispute. Parts of the State of Jammu and Kashmir are under illegal Indian occupation. The Jammu and Kashmir dispute is the oldest item on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council, pending resolution due to Indian intransigence,” he added.

The Foreign Office Spokesperson further stated that regurgitation of false and fabricated claims by India did not change the reality that it was India which was in illegal occupation of parts of Jammu and Kashmir for more than seven decades.

“Jammu and Kashmir never was and never will be so-called ‘integral part’ of India”, he maintained.

The Spokesperson said that numerous United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions have established that the final disposition of the State of Jammu and Kashmir will be made in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people expressed through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite held under the UN auspices.

“India’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019, seeking to alter the internationally recognized disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir, and to change the demographic structure of the occupied territory, are in clear violation of the UN Charter, relevant UNSC resolutions, and international law,” he added.

The Foreign Office Spokesperson stressed that India must immediately end its illegal occupation of parts of Jammu and Kashmir, stop its egregious violations of human rights in IIOJK, and take steps for full implementation of the relevant UNSC resolutions on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.