Pakistan’s Foreign Office has condemned Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s remarks on Jammu and Kashmir as provocative and irresponsible.
Islamabad, Pakistan – Web Desk: Pakistan on Monday strongly condemned remarks by Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), calling them a “misplaced rhetoric of aggression and belligerence.”
The Foreign Office said in a statement that it condemned “in the strongest possible terms the highly provocative and irresponsible comments” made by the Indian defence minister in the context of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said Singh’s statement distorted facts regarding the UN-recognised Jammu and Kashmir dispute, which remains on the agenda of the UN Security Council. He said the remarks reflected a deliberate Indian policy aimed at threatening regional and international peace and security.
Singh had said on Sunday that talks with Pakistan would be held only on what he referred to as “Pakistan-administered Kashmir,” and added that the Indian government had given its armed forces a free hand to respond decisively to threats, expressing confidence that no adversary would challenge India.
The Foreign Office said such statements were an attempt to divert attention from India’s continued occupation of what Pakistan refers to as Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), as well as from its alleged sponsorship of terrorism in the region and domestic instability at home.
The statement added that while India resorts to rhetoric of aggression, it must not underestimate the resolve of the Pakistani people and government to resist any Indian “adventurism,” pointing to the response demonstrated during Operation Bunyan-ul-Marsoos last year.
Islamabad also urged the international community, particularly the United Nations, to take note of what it called India’s continued conduct and to hold it accountable for failing to implement UN Security Council resolutions that guarantee Kashmiris the right to self-determination.
The exchange adds to long-running tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours over the disputed Kashmir region, which both countries claim in full but administer only in part.
