ISLAMABAD - Foreign Office Spokesperson Qazi Khalilullah Wednesday rejected the remarks by the Spokesperson for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, in which he claimed that the entire State of Jammu & Kashmir, including the regions of Gilgit-Baltistan, as an integral part of India.”  “It is actually India which is unlawfully occupying the territories of Jammu and Kashmir,” the spokesperson said.
He reminded that Kashmir is an internationally recognised dispute, pending final settlement through a free and impartial plebiscite under the UN auspices, as enshrined in numerous UN resolutions. Under these resolutions no material change is allowed, yet India, in complete violation of these resolutions, calls it a state of the union.
He said the Indian description of the elections being held in Gilgit-Baltistan on June 8 “as an attempt by Pakistan to camouflage its forcible and illegal occupation of the regions,” is interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan. “It is actually India which is unlawfully occupying the territories of Jammu and Kashmir. To maintain its illegal hold on that disputed territory, India has deployed over 700,000 of its forces, atrociously tries to suppress majority voice of Kashmiri Muslims and holds sham elections at gunpoint,” he added.
He said the dispute stems from India’s constant refusal to implement the relevant Security Council resolutions, which provide for a just solution of the Kashmir issue. “India’s position on Kashmir is one of utter disregard to the UN resolutions, a consistent pattern of forceful occupation, denial of the inalienable right of self-determination to the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” he added.