DNA

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan categorically rejected the Indian Defence Minister’s unwarranted comments regarding Gilgit-Baltistan (GB). India has no locus standi whatsoever on the issue — historical, legal, or moral.

Gratuitous repetition of false claims by the RSS-BJP leaders, one after the other, for political point-scoring can neither change facts nor can it draw attention away from the reprehensible human rights violations being perpetrated against the Kashmiri people by Indian occupation forces in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

Pakistan’s principled position on the Jammu & Kashmir dispute remains firmly anchored in the relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions. Administrative, political and economic reforms are a long-standing demand of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan. The envisaged provisional reforms reflect the aspirations of the indigenous populace of Gilgit-Baltistan.

Pakistan calls upon India to immediately end its illegal and forcible occupation of parts of Jammu & Kashmir. India must comply with its international obligations by allowing the Kashmiris to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination through a free and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations as enshrined in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.