Islamabad, 6 Mar

Pakistan on Thursday rejected as “baseless” the remarks by India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar regarding Kashmir, while making counter demands to address the issue.

Jaishankar, speaking during a session at the Chatham House think-tank in London on Wednesday, said the Kashmir dispute would be solved after the “return of the stolen part of Kashmir which is under illegal Pakistani occupation.”

Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan, while addressing a weekly press briefing, rejected the remarks and instead asked India to vacate the part of Kashmir it had occupied.

“We reject the remarks made by the Indian external affairs minister on Jammu and Kashmir during an event held at Chatham House, London on 5 March,” Khan said.

“Instead of making baseless claims about Azad Jammu and Kashmir, India should vacate the large territories of Jammu and Kashmir under its occupation from the last 77 years,” he said.

Jaishankar, who is visiting the UK, said at the Chatham House event: “Removing Article 370 was step number one, restoring growth and economic activity and social justice in Kashmir was step number two, and holding elections with a very high turnout was step number three.”

“I think the part we are waiting for is the return of the stolen part of Kashmir which is under illegal Pakistani occupation. When that is done, I assure you Kashmir will be solved,” he said while responding to an audience question on “solving” issues in Kashmir.

India has repeatedly told Pakistan that Jammu and Kashmir “was, is and shall forever” remain an integral part of the country.

The India-Pakistan bilateral ties nosedived and the trade between the two countries stopped after India abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution, revoking the special status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcating into two Union Territories on August 5, 2019.

Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesperson also said that Kashmir was an internationally recognised disputed territory and the remarks by Jaishankar “misrepresent the ground realities and contravene the international law.”

“The relevant UN Security Council resolutions stipulate that the final status of Jammu and Kashmir is to be determined through a free and impartial plebiscite under the UN auspices. India’s prevarication cannot change this reality,” he said.

Khan also rejected the claims by the Indian minister about the elections held in its part of Kashmir last year. “We also wish to underscore that any electoral exercise pursuant to the Indian constitution cannot serve as a substitute to grant of right to self-determination,” he said.

He also rejected India's claims about starting economic activities in Kashmir. “Similarly, the decades-old grievances of the Kashmiri people cannot be meaningfully addressed through economic activity down the barrel of a gun,” Khan said.

The spokesperson also urged India to realise that a peaceful settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and wishes of the Kashmiri people was imperative for a lasting peace in South Asia.