Islamabad: Pakistan Tuesday “strongly condemned and rejected the inflammatory and irresponsible” remarks made by the Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on taking back Pakistan occupied Kashmir, saying they could “further escalate tensions and seriously jeopardise peace and security in the region”.
In a statement, hours after India said that Pakistan occupied Kashmir was a part of its territory and it expected to get “physical jurisdiction” over it one day, the Pakistan Foreign Office the remarks were “an obvious manifestation of India’s utter frustration over the continued international censure of its egregious human rights violations in occupied Jammu and Kashmir”.
It said India “cannot divert international attention from its crimes against the innocent people of Jammu and Kashmir by blaming Pakistan”.
It said that India “continues to unashamedly justify the violation of Kashmiris’ human rights”.
In response to Jaishankar taking pot shots at Pakistan over its state of minorities, Islamabad said “India today is also a unique and deplorable case of a state which promotes hate crimes against minorities and consistently fails to bring to account those who indulge in cow vigilantism, mob lynchings and forced conversions and are guilty of violating India’s own laws”.
It called on the international community to take “serious cognizance of India’s aggressive posturing” about taking ‘physical jurisdiction’ of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
“Coming from an occupying state, such irresponsible and belligerent statements have the potential to further escalate tensions and seriously jeopardise peace and security in the region. Pakistan stands for peace, but would be ready to respond effectively to any act of aggression,” it said.
“Instead of resorting to jingoistic rhetoric, India must rescind its illegal actions, stop forthwith grave human rights violations in IoJ&K, refrain from violating international law, and fully comply with UN Security Council resolutions for a final settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute,” the statement said.