Pakistan condemns Indian FM over AJK remarks

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan fired back on Wednesday at New Delhi’s “jingoistic rhetoric” after India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar passed remarks regarding Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

“We strongly condemn and reject the inflammatory and irresponsible remarks made by the Indian external affairs minister,” the Foreign Office said in a statement. “Such irresponsible and belligerent statements have the potential to further escalate tensions and seriously jeopardise peace and security in the region,” it added.

The statement came hours after Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told a press conference on Tuesday that Azad Kashmir is “part of India and we expect one day that we will have the... physical jurisdiction over it”.

Pakistan called on the international community to take serious cognisance of India’s aggressive posturing about taking “physical jurisdiction” of the AJK.

“Coming from an occupying state, such irresponsible and belligerent statements have the potential to further escalate tensions and seriously jeopardise peace and security in the region,” the Foreign Office said. “Pakistan stands for peace, but would be ready to respond effectively to any act of aggression,” it added.

The Foreign Office said the remarks were an obvious manifestation of India’s “utter frustration over the continued international censure of its egregious human rights violations in the occupied Jammu and Kashmir”.

“With close to a million military and security personnel incarcerating more than eight million Kashmiris in one of the world’s largest prison, India is obdurately committing state terrorism in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IoJ&K).

“India cannot divert international attention from its crimes against the innocent people of IoJ&K by blaming Pakistan.”

The Foreign Office said India continued to unashamedly justify the violation of Kashmiris’ human rights.

“India today is also a unique and deplorable case of a state which promotes hate crimes against minorities and consistently fails to bring to account those who indulge in cow vigilantism, mob lynchings and forced conversions and are guilty of violating India’s own laws,” it added.

The crimes committed by the Indian state in held Kashmir for over 70 years are enough to “debunk pretentious claim of India being a normal state and the so-called ‘largest democracy’.

“Instead of resorting to jingoistic rhetoric, India must rescind its illegal actions, stop forthwith grave human rights violations in IoJ&K, refrain from violating international law, and fully comply with UN Security Council resolutions for a final settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute,” it added.