Pakistan rejects Indian MEA's comments on AJK elections

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

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

“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 & 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.

“While the people of AJK enjoy the fruits of free and participatory electoral process, IIOJK bleeds under India’s illegal occupation,” the statement read.

“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 recognized dispute, as affirmed by the relevant Security Council resolutions.”

The Foreign Office said that despite the 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 on Jammu and Kashmir, India has reneged on these commitments over the years.

“India’s illegal actions of 5 August 2019, seeking to unilaterally alter the internationally recognized disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir and India’s illegal steps to change the occupied territory’s demographic structure, contravene several UN Security Council resolutions. The Security Council has clearly delineated the principle that the final disposition of the State of Jammu and Kashmir will 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,” it said.

“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.”