• Following meeting of top Indian leaders, media from across the border has been speculating about possible change in disputed region’s status
• Foreign minister says internationally recognised dispute can’t be settled through amendments to local laws

KARACHI: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has expressed the apprehension that India is likely to make occupied Jammu a separate state, adding that any such move would be in violation of international conventions and UN Security Council resolutions.

He expressed the fear while addressing a rally at Islamabad’s D-Chowk on Tuesday, held to mark six years since India unilaterally changed the special status of occupied Kashmir and bifurcated the region into the union territories of Jammu and Kash­mir, and Ladakh.

The move allowed the BJP government in New Delhi to control the disputed region through its lieutenant governor.

In recent days, the Indian media has been reporting a plan by the BJP government to give the occupied region of Jammu the status of a state.

The Hindustan Times reported that a meeting of top Indian government functionaries, including the president, prime minister and home minister, took place recently, leading to speculation about an impending move on the region’s statehood.

The paper quoted a senior BJP leader as saying that statehood for Jammu and Kashmir was “a promise that the government has already made… and it will be done when the time is right”.

However, he refused to comment on speculation that a decision will be taken in the next few days.

Amid the speculation, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said in a post on X: “I’ve heard every possible permutation & combination about what to expect in J&K tomorrow so let me stick my neck out and say nothing will happen tomorrow — fortunately nothing bad will happen but unfortunately nothing positive will happen either.”

Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into two union territories after the Indian parliament, on August 5, 2019, passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill and abrogated Articles 370 and 35 (A) that gave special powers to the region.

‘Subservient govt’

In his remarks on Tuesday, Mr Dar said that New Delhi may take another rash step in the next few hours, or days. He called the Aug 5, 2019, measures India’s attempt to “usurp Kashmir”.

“India revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and took it under the direct control of New Delhi,” he said, adding that the move was further consolidated by the Supreme Court’s decision in 2023, which gave “stamp of approval” to the con­troversial decision. Mr Dar said Jammu and Kashmir was an internationally recognised dispute and it can’t be settled through amendments in local laws.

In the last six years, he said, the BJP government had amended local laws governing Kashmir; the powers of the lieutenant governor have been increased and the delimitation of the region’s legislative assembly changed to “influence the representation of Muslims in Kashmir”.

He said non-Kashmiris have been allowed to obtain domicile, purchase properties and become part of the voter list.

“All these steps were taken to make Kashmir a separate state and form a government in Srinagar which is subservient to New Delhi.” “This is unacceptable to Pakistan and its people,” the foreign minister warned.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2025