https://arab.news/yetpw
- India accused Pakistan, China of implementing these projects on its ‘sovereign territory’ in the Himalayan region
- Pakistan says India ‘misleading’ the world, calls Kashmir internationally recognized dispute under UN resolutions
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan asked India not to “mislead” the international community about the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) on Wednesday, criticizing New Delhi’s reaction to a joint statement issued by Beijing and Islamabad earlier this month that made references to the disputed Himalayan territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The statement was released by the two countries after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif concluded his five-day visit to China in which he held a number of high-profile meetings with the top Chinese political leadership along with the investors and members of the business community.
Among other things, the statement called for peace and stability in South Asia by resolving all outstanding disputes while mentioning Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian external affairs ministry said in response that the region constituted an “integral and inalienable” part of India, adding that no other country had the right to comment on its status.
India also accused Pakistan and China of implementing various CPEC projects on its “sovereign territory under forcible and illegal occupation by Pakistan.”
“India has no right to object to the references made to Jammu and Kashmir in Pakistan-China Joint Statement of 8 June 2024,” Pakistan’s foreign office said in a statement. “It is an established fact that Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally-recognized disputed territory. The dispute has been on the agenda of the UN Security Council for over seven decades.”
“The relevant Security Council resolutions clearly stipulate that the final disposition of the State of Jammu and Kashmir will be made in accordance with the will of the people expressed through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite conducted under the auspices of the United Nations,” it added. “In that backdrop, the Indian claims over Jammu and Kashmir are totally unfounded and misplaced.”
The foreign office said India “should not mislead the international community” about CPEC while calling it a “flagship developmental endeavour” agreed upon by two sovereign nations.
“Instead of making baseless claims about CPEC, India should implement, at the earliest, the relevant UN Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir,” it continued.
Pakistan and India have fought wars and a limited conflict over Kashmir since their independence in 1947. Both countries claim Kashmir in full, but control only parts of it.