Pakistan rebuffs Indian reaction on political map integrating entire Kashmir

‘Pakistan remains firmly committed to solution of Kashmir dispute in accordance with UNSC resolutions’

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan has rebuffed the Indian reaction on Pakistan’s political map which integrated Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) in the country’s territory for the first time in history.

“We categorically reject the statement made by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Pakistan’s political map. Through sophistry and obfuscation, India cannot create a smokescreen for its illegal and unacceptable actions in Indian occupied Jammu & Kashmir, including those taken since August 5, 2019,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said in a statement on Tuesday night.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Imran Khan unveiled the map saying that “map represents the aspirations of the people of Kashmir and Pakistan”.

New Delhi rejected the map and termed it “an exercise in political absurdity”, adding that these “ridiculous assertions have neither legal validity nor international credibility”. India’s Ministry of External Affairs, in a statement issued hours after the unveiling, said Islamabad’s move “confirms the reality of Pakistan’s obsession with territorial aggrandisement supported by cross-border terrorism”.

It is preposterous for a country that is compulsively expansionist, and a brazen practitioner of state-terrorism, to level charges against others, Farooqui said in response.

“India has been in illegal occupation of parts of Jammu & Kashmir since 1947 and has continuously violated UN Security Council resolutions for decades. Despite its brutal suppression of Kashmiris for over 72 years, India has been unable to force them into submission,” she added.

The official communiqué clarified that Pakistan’s position remains clear and unambiguous that the resolution of the Kashmir dispute lies in the “realisation of the Kashmiris’ inalienable right to self-determination through a free and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations”.

Pakistan remains firmly committed to the solution of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the wishes of the Kashmiri people, said the official statement.

“The political map issued by Pakistan emphatically reaffirms this abiding commitment,” it added.