India rejects Pakistan’s ‘Youm-e-Istehsal’ remarks, reaffirms J&K as integral part of country
New Delhi. India on August 5 strongly rejected Pakistan’s observance of the so-called ‘Youm-e-Istehsal’, describing it as a politically motivated exercise aimed at spreading “malicious propaganda” against the country, while reiterating that the union territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh are an integral and inalienable part of India.
Responding to media queries on comments made by Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister on the occasion, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the constitutional changes carried out in Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019, were an internal matter of India and that Pakistan had no locus standi to comment on them.
Jaiswal said the decisions taken by India had ushered in unprecedented socio-economic development, improved governance and greater democratic empowerment for the people of the region.
The MEA spokesperson accused Pakistan of attempting to divert international attention from what he described as its poor human rights record and its continued association with terrorism through what he called “falsehoods” and propaganda against India.
He alleged that the international community was witnessing the suppression of fundamental rights in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), claiming that Pakistani security forces had, in recent weeks, resorted to lethal force, targeted killings and restrictive measures to suppress peaceful civil rights protests by local residents.
According to Jaiswal, such actions exposed what he termed the “hypocrisy” of the Pakistani establishment.
Calling on Islamabad to address issues within its own territory instead of engaging in what he described as “predictable diplomatic theatre”, the spokesperson urged Pakistan to stop the violence in PoJK, take credible, verifiable and irreversible action against terrorist networks operating from its soil, and vacate all Indian territories under its “illegal and forcible occupation”.
He asserted that the international community was not misled by what he characterised as Pakistan’s orchestrated campaigns against India.
