Pakistan rubbishes Indian reports on transfer of Syrian fighters to IIOJK

Pakistan has categorically rejected reports in a section of the Indian media alleging transfer of foreign fighters to Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), terming the reports as "fake news", the Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement on Saturday.

"Such fabrications are part of the Indian propaganda against indigenous freedom movement of the Kashmiri people for their inalienable right to self-determination — a right enshrined in international law and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions," FO Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said, adding that "such Indian ploys are doomed to fail again".

He said that by spreading such falsehoods, India can neither cast a shadow on the legitimate struggle of the Kashmiri people for freedom from illegal and inhuman Indian occupation nor can it escape censure by the international community for the gross and systematic violations of human rights being perpetrated by the Indian occupation forces in IIOJK.

"The completely baseless allegations of so-called 'foreign fighters from Syria' serve only to further illustrate the virulent anti-Pakistan tirade that is the hallmark of the RSS-BJP dispensation," the official statement added.

The hardline Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi had revoked the special status of IIOJK in August 2019 – and the region remains under siege since then.

Chaudhri said that instead of wasting more time in peddling falsehoods and fake news, India would be well-advised to comply with its international legal and moral obligations and let the Kashmiris exercise their inalienable right to self-determination as enshrined in international law and the relevant UNSC Resolutions.