FO mocks Indian reports on G-B status

The Foreign Office on Thursday denied that the move to grant Gilgit-Baltistan the status of a province was linked to India’s illegal and unilateral move of August 5, 2019.

“We have seen the baseless story in the Indian media. Such stories are a handy work of hyperactive Indian propaganda machine. By making such false propaganda, Government of India cannot change the reality, and the reality is that India is losing in IIOJK,” Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said while speaking at his weekly news briefing.

“The reforms in Gilgit-Baltistan are an ongoing process. It includes political, administrative and economic reforms based on the longstanding demands of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan,” he added.

Such reforms, he continued, “will continue in line with the needs of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan, and not in the wake of India’s illegal unilateral actions of 5th August 2019.”

“As for the LoC part of the fictional story by the Indian media, Pakistan’s position remains clear and consistent,” he stated.

He said the final resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute lies in fulfilling the aspirations of the people of Kashmir, determined through a free and fair plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations.

“There is and there can be no change in this principled position,” he clarified.

The Foreign Office asked India to immediately rescind over 1.85 million bogus domiciles distributed to non-Kashmiris since June, saying 'no illegal order could provide legal cover for demographic change in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

"Being in violation of international law, including the 4th Geneva Convention and the UNSC resolutions, the Jammu and Kashmir Grant of Domicile Certificate Rules 2020 is illegal and void ab-initio," Chaudhri said at a weekly press briefing.