After Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday announced the government’s decision to scrap Article 370, which confers special status to Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan condemned the move.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, according to The Washington Post, told a Pakistani TV station that Pakistan would step up diplomatic efforts to prevent the revocation made by presidential order from coming into effect.
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In a statement, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “As the party to this international dispute, Pakistan will exercise all possible options to counter the illegal steps.”
It also said that “no unilateral step by the Government of India can change this disputed status, as enshrined in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions. Nor will this ever be acceptable to the people of Jammu & Kashmir and Pakistan.”
Here’s the full statement:
Pakistan strongly condemns and rejects the announcements made today by the Indian Government regarding the Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir.
The Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir is an internationally recognized disputed territory.
No unilateral step by the Government of India can change this disputed status, as enshrined in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions. Nor will this ever be acceptable to the people of Jammu & Kashmir and Pakistan.
As the party to this international dispute, Pakistan will exercise all possible options to counter the illegal steps.
Pakistan reaffirms its abiding commitment to the Kashmir cause and its political, diplomatic and moral support to the people of Occupied Jammu and Kashmir for realization of their inalienable right to self-determination.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president and opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif also condemned the move, reported Geo News. He called it “unacceptable” and an “act of treason” against the United Nations.
