اردو
  • FO rejects Indian official’s ‘irresponsible’ remarks on Pak-China joint statement

    Foreign office spoksman File Photo Foreign office spoksman

    Pakistan on Sunday "strongly rejected" Indian foreign ministry spokesperson's "irresponsible" comments on the joint press release of the Second Round of China-Pakistan Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue.

    "The [Indian] Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) contentions about Jammu and Kashmir being the so-called 'integral and inalienable part' of India and an 'internal affair' are a laughable fiction, totally contrary to historical and legal facts and in violation of the relevant United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions," said a statement issued by the Foreign Office.

    The statement said that New Delhi's "self-serving claims" regarding Kashmir have no basis whatsoever. The FO said that India has no "locus standi" on the Kashmir issue be it historical, legal or moral.

    "The regurgitation of false claims by India can neither change facts nor divert attention from India’s state-terrorism in the Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) and its egregious violations of human rights of the Kashmiri people," said the statement.

    Pakistan called on India to faithfully implement its international obligations rather than resorting to false and misleading assertions.

    "India must immediately vacate its illegal and forcible occupation of IoK and let the Kashmiris exercise their inalienable right to self-determination through a free and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations as enshrined in the relevant UNSC Resolutions," said the statement.

    The FO also "categorically rejected" India’s malicious propaganda against the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). It added that the propaganda was another manifestation of desperate Indian attempts to mislead the world community.

    On Thursday, Qureshi had arrived in southern China’s Hainan province to attend the second meeting of the China-Pakistan Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue.

    After the meeting on Friday, the joint statement issued after the dialogue said that Pakistan briefed the Chinese side on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, including its concerns, position and current urgent issues.

    The statement had said that the Chinese side had reiterated that the Kashmir issue was a dispute left over from history between India and Pakistan, which is an objective fact, and that the dispute should be resolved peacefully and properly through the UN Charter, relevant Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreements.

    The statement had also said that China opposed any unilateral actions that complicate the situation.