Pak rejects India's claims on Kashmir, reaffirms disputed status

ISLAMABAD, SEP 7 /DNA/ – Pakistan has firmly rejected India's recent assertions regarding the status of the Jammu and Kashmir region, stating that New Delhi's unilateral actions cannot change the territory's internationally recognized disputed status. In a statement issued on Monday, Foreign Office Spokesperson Ambassador Sajjad Haider Khan responded to queries regarding a map released by India's Ministry of External Affairs, calling India's claims 'baseless' and contrary to internationally established facts. 'The Jammu and Kashmir dispute remains one of the oldest unresolved, internationally recognized disputes on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council,' Ambassador Khan stated. He emphasized that the final disposition of the territory must be made in accordance with relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the will of the Kashmiri people, expressed through a free and impartial plebiscite under UN auspices—a commitment that remains unfulfilled. The spokesperson underscored that official United Nations maps, which depict Jammu and Kashmir as a disputed territory, remain the only cartographic representation of its current legal status. He asserted that India's so-called official maps and unilateral sovereignty claims 'have no bearing' on the region's internationally recognized status. Pakistan also called on the international community to pressure India to immediately halt what it described as 'human rights violations' in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and to fulfill its commitments toward realizing the Kashmiri people's right to self-determination, in line with UNSC resolutions. The statement comes amid heightened diplomatic tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors over the disputed Himalayan region, which has been a flashpoint since their independence in 1947. India maintains that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of its territory and has consistently rejected Pakistan's claims, asserting that its internal affairs are not subject to external arbitration. The international community has long called for bilateral dialogue between India and Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir issue, though official talks have remained stalled for years.=DNA