'India violated Simla Agreement by eliminating special status of occupied Kashmir'

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Monday said that the Indian government has committed violation of Simla Agreement by revoking special status of occupied Jammu and Kashmir given under Article 370.

Answering to question, Qureshi said that Islamabad’s position is very clear and strong in legal prospects and Pakistan will raise voice for Kashmiris’ rights internationally.

While talking to ARY News programme “Off The Record” hosted by Kashif Abbasi, the foreign minister clarified that Pakistan will not accept the revocation of special status for occupied Kashmir through a presidential order in the Indian parliament.

“[Indian Prime Minister] Narendra Modi wants to impose Hindutva’s thoughts in held Kashmir. The value of the presidential order regarding IoK is not more than a piece of paper which is an attempt to make Kashmiris hostage by the New Delhi authorities.”

Read: India scraps special status for Occupied Kashmir amid severe human rights abuses

‘India violated the Simla Agreement by eliminating the special status of occupied Kashmir’

“New Delhi cannot change the status of occupied Jammu and Kashmir and Islamabad will not accept this move at any cost. I want to request the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General to play his role. The neighbouring country had earlier rejected mediation offer of US President Donald Trump.”

“The Indian move compromises regional peace, whereas, Amnesty International (AI) has also expressed serious concerns over the development.”

“We were getting signals that India is going to make a bigger development and Pakistan had expressed concerns before the UN secretary-general.”

Read: Pakistan to exercise ‘all options’ to counter India’s ‘illegal’ move in IoK

He questioned the international community whether it wanted to maintain silence over the grave situation of occupied Kashmir which was also a conspiracy against the ongoing Afghanistan peace process.

Earlier in the day, Indian President Ram Nath Kovind signed a bill to remove Article 370, about special status of Kashmir, from the Indian constitution.

Denouncing the move of the Indian government to repeal Article 370 for occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan declared to “exercise all possible options to counter the illegal steps.”

In a statement issued on Monday, the Foreign Office strongly condemned and rejected the announcements made on Monday by the Indian government regarding the Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir.