British foreign secretary contacts Indian counterpart, expresses concerns over IoK situation

LONDON: Britain’s foreign secretary Dominic Raab has contacted his Indian counterpart and expressed concerns over the deteriorated situation of occupied Jammu and Kashmir, a foreign news agency reported on Wednesday.

Dominic Raab discussed the recent situation of occupied Jammu and Kashmir with his Indian counterpart during the conversation and expressed deep concerns over the scenario emerged after the revocation of the special status to the IoK.

The British foreign secretary urged the Indian authorities for exhibiting calm amid the prevailing condition of IOK.

Read: ICJ urges Indian judiciary to look into article 370 abrogation issue

Earlier in the day, the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Alice G. Wells rejected reports that India consulted the United States before moving to end Jammu and Kashmir’s special constitutional status.

“Contrary to press reporting, the Indian government did not consult or inform the US Government before moving to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special constitutional status,” she said in a Twitter statement.

It must be noted that on August 5, India’s BJP government moved a bill in the upper house of the parliament (Rajaya Sabha) to remove Article 370 from the Indian constitution amid opposition members’ protest.

Read: US media watchdog urges India to restore internet in occupied Kashmir

It was later signed by Indian President Ram Nath Kovind, stripping the state of Kashmir off its special status and turning it a Union Territory with the legislature.

In a reaction to India’s illegal annexation of Occupied Kashmir, the National Security Committee (NSC) meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan took some important decisions to counter the Indian move and decided to suspend all bilateral trade with India,

PM Imran also directed all diplomatic channels to remain active in order to expose brutal Indian racist regime, design and human rights violations. The premier also directed Armed Forces to continue vigilance.