PM vows to extend support to IIOJK

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar will attend the special session of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s (AJK) Legislative Assembly to discuss the situation after the verdict of the Indian Supreme Court on Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
This was decided in PM Kakar’s meeting with AJK Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwar-ul-Haq at the PM House, Tuesday.
PM Kakar said Pakistan rejected the decision of India’s top court to uphold the Indian government’s illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).
He said the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, which was pending for the last seven decades, could only be settled in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations and the wishes of the Kashmiri people.
PM Kakar said India had no right to go against international laws and take one-sided actions in the garb of the court decisions.
He pointed out that India on August 5, 2019, illegally revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir aimed at changing the demographics of the valley.
The prime minister vowed to continue extending political, diplomatic, and moral support to the people of IIOJK in line with their inalienable right to self-determination.
India’s top court on Monday upheld a move by PM Narendra Modi’s government to revoke the limited autonomy of Muslim-majority IIOJK.
The 2019 declaration was “a culmination of the process of integration and as such is a valid exercise of power”, the Supreme Court said in its verdict.
The move was accompanied by the imposition of direct rule from New Delhi, mass arrests, a total lockdown and communication blackout that ran for months as India bolstered its armed forces in the region to contain protests.
Modi’s muscular policy has been deeply controversial in IIOJK, with the insurgency that claimed tens of thousands of lives over decades largely quietened.
The removal of Article 370 of the constitution, which enshrined the special status of the disputed region, was challenged by Kashmir’s pro-India political parties, the local bar association and individual litigants, culminating in Monday’s verdict.
The court upheld removing the region’s autonomy while calling for IIOJK to be restored to statehood with the same status as any other Indian state “at the earliest and as soon as possible”.
The court also ordered state elections to take place by September 30, 2024.