India’s foreign minister claimed on Tuesday that Azad Jammu and Kashmir belongs to India and that he expects New Delhi to gain physical control over it one day.
“Our position on Azad Jammu and Kashmir is, has always been and will always be very clear. AJK is part of India and we expect one day that we will have the jurisdiction, physical jurisdiction over it,” Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told a news conference.
Last month, New Delhi abrogated the special status of Muslim-majority Held Kashmir in a bid to integrate the territory fully into India, an illegal move that has prompted protests and anger in the occupied valley and Pakistan.
Asked about the Indian foreign minister’s comments, Pakistan Foreign Office Spokesman Dr Faisal said his government’s position on Held Kashmir has not changed. Pakistan has previously said that Kashmir is a disputed territory that should be resolved by the United Nations.
The two countries, both nuclear-armed, have twice gone to war over Kashmir. Pakistan has condemned India’s decision to change Kashmir’s status and said New Delhi’s crackdown on protests and dissent there will drive more of the world’s Muslims into extremism. But Jaishankar said revoking Kashmir’s special rights is an ‘internal matter’ and that the only issue on the table is an end to ‘cross-border terrorism from Pakistan’.
