ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday categorically rejected the “false, untenable and self-serving comments” made by the spokesperson of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs on the recently-held elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

The Indian Charge d’Affaires was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to convey Pakistan’s complete rejection of India’s sham protest and to reiterate its clear and consistent position on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.

Indian diplomat summoned to convey Islamabad’s stance

“India cannot hide the fact that it is in illegal occupation of parts of Jammu and Kashmir. To perpetuate its occupation of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), India has committed horrendous human rights violations against innocent Kashmiris over the past seven decades, and particularly since 5 August, 2019,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.

It said that while the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir enjoyed fruits of free and participatory electoral process, the IIOJK bled under India’s illegal occupation.

The FO said: “The Jammu and Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and India has been on the agenda of the UN Security Council since 1948. It remains an internationally-recognised dispute, as affirmed by relevant Security Council resolutions.

“Despite solemn commitments made by the Government of India in numerous official communications to the Security Council, to Pakistan, to other states, and to the people of Jammu and Kashmir to abide by and implement the UN Security Council’s resolutions, India has reneged on these commitments over the years.”

The FO said that India’s illegal actions of Aug 5, 2019, seeking to unilaterally alter the internationally-recognised disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir, and its illegal steps to change the occupied territory’s demographic structure, contravened several UN Security Council resolutions.

It said that the Security Council clearly delineated the principle that the final disposition of the State of Jammu and Kashmir would be made in accordance with the will of the people expressed through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite conducted under the auspices of the United Nations.

“India must immediately end its illegal occupation of parts of Jammu and Kashmir, stop its egregious violations of the human rights in IIOJK, and take steps for immediate and full implementation of the UNSC resolutions on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute,” it said.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2021