Focus on terror, not J&K: MEA tells Pak

New Delhi, Aug 5: India on Wednesday strongly rejected Pakistan’s comments on the anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370, asserting that the constitutional changes made on August 5, 2019, are an internal matter and that Islamabad has no locus standi to comment on them.
Responding to remarks made by Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister on the so-called “Youm-e-Istehsal”, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, in a statement said India “categorically rejects the political absurdity and futile attempts” by Pakistan to spread what he termed as malicious propaganda against the country.
“The Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are, have always been, and shall forever remain an integral and inalienable part of India,” Jaiswal said.
He said the constitutional changes introduced on August 5, 2019, had brought “unprecedented socio-economic development, good governance, and democratic empowerment” to the people of the region.
“Pakistan has no locus standi to comment on matters that are strictly internal to India,” he said.
The MEA also accused Pakistan of attempting to divert global attention from its own human rights record and alleged role in terrorism.
Jaiswal said the international community was witnessing the suppression of fundamental rights in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), alleging that Pakistani security forces had resorted to lethal violence, targeted killings and restrictions on peaceful protests in the region.
He further urged Pakistan to take “credible, verifiable and irreversible action” against terror networks operating from its soil and to vacate “all Indian territories under its illegal and forcible occupation.”
The remarks came on the seventh anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370, which ended the special status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and reorganised it into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. (KNO)