Pakistan rejects India’s irresponsible statement on Gilgit-Baltistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Sunday categorically rejected the Indian ministry of external affairs’ irresponsible and unwarranted statement regarding Gilgit-Baltistan, ARY News reported.

In a statement, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said that India has no locus standi whatsoever on the issue legal, moral or historical for more than 73 years.

He said India has been in illegal and forcible occupation of parts of Jammu and Kashmir. Regurgitation of false and fabricated claims by India can neither change the facts nor divert attention from India’s illegal actions and continuing humanitarian crisis resulting from the perpetration of the worst human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), he added.

“Pakistan’s position on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute remains firmly anchored in the relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions.”

The spokesperson maintained that the final resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is only possible through the exercise of the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination by holding free and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations.

He added that administrative, political and economic reforms are a long-standing demand of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan. The envisaged provisional reforms reflect the aspirations of the indigenous populace of Gilgit-Baltistan.

“Pakistan calls upon India to immediately end its illegal and forcible occupation of parts of Jammu and Kashmir and comply with its international obligations by allowing the Kashmiris to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination through a free and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of United Nations as enshrined in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions,” read the statement.