After India strongly objected to the description of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as “Pakistani Kashmir” by The New York Times, Islamabad has issued its own rebuttal. A statement from the Pakistani embassy in the US has rejected New Delhi’s claim as “illegal and baseless”.
Event Context
Pakistan’s statement comes after India issued a statement slamming the New York Times for describing PoK as “Pakistani Kashmir”. The Indian embassy in the US took to X to express its disapproval of the headline. “Misleading and incorrect headline by @nytimes. There is no Pakistani Kashmir, only Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.”
“The Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh have been, are and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India. Pakistan has illegally occupied parts of these territories and is now using violence against the occupied people,” the embassy wrote further.
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In response to this, the Pakistani embassy accused India of diverting attention away from the grave and systematic human rights violations in the region.
“No propaganda campaigns can change the fact that Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally recognized disputed territory. At the same time, India cannot divert international community’s attention from its grave and systematic human rights violations in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir,” the Pakistani embassy said.
“Pakistan reiterates its call on the international community to play its role in realizing a just solution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, in accordance with the relevant UNSC resolutions as well as aspirations of the Kashmiri people, to be ascertained through a free and impartial plebiscite under the UN auspices,” the statement added.
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The recent back and forth between India and Pakistan comes in the wake of recent clashes in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, which was reported by the New York Times.
While reporting the recent clashes, the US-based publication used the headline ‘Clashes Erupt in Pakistani Kashmir as Voting in Local Election Begins’ for a report on a violent clash that broke out in Mirpur on Tuesday. As per NYT, at least two people died from gunshot injuries in the latest wave of confrontations in the region. The report also highlighted a demand from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan for an impartial inquiry into the incidents.
Also Read | India slams Pakistan over ‘politicising’ UN forum: ‘J&K was, is, and will remain internal matter’
Both nations, since 1947, have stated that Kashmir is an integral part of their territory, with each claiming that the other illegally occupies the other half.
Earlier this month, India also raised the matter at the United Nations, stated that Jammu and Kashmir “has always been, is, and will remain an integral and inalienable part of India”.
“This is the constitutional and legal reality that Pakistan deliberately chooses to ignore,” said India’s permanent representative to the UN, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish.
