Pakistan rejects India’s ‘baseless’ assertions regarding status of disputed Jammu, Kashmir

Pakistan on Monday “categorically” rejected India’s “baseless assertions” regarding the status of Jammu and Kashmir, saying these are contrary to internationally recognised facts.

Responding to media queries regarding the statement issued by India’s Ministry of External Affairs on the map of disputed Jammu and Kashmir region, Foreign Office Spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan said India’s unilateral actions and continued illegal occupation cannot alter the internationally recognized disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir.

The development comes a day after India said that any “inaccurate” or “misleading” depiction of the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh on a world map supported by the United Nations would not be acceptable to the country.

The FO spokesperson said Jammu and Kashmir dispute remains one of the oldest unresolved, internationally recognized disputes on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council.

The relevant UN resolutions stipulate that its final disposition must be made in accordance with the relevant Security Council resolutions and the will of the Kashmiri people, expressed through a free and impartial plebiscite under UN auspices, he said.

He said the official United Nations maps, which depict Jammu and Kashmir as a disputed territory, remain the only cartographic representation of its current legal status. “India’s so-called official maps and unilateral claims of sovereignty have no bearing on the status of the disputed territory,” he stated.

The spokesperson urged the international community to ensure that India immediately stops human rights violations in the Indian Illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir and fulfils its commitment towards the realisation of the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people, in line with the relevant UNSC resolutions.