Pakistan painting Kashmir as ‘alarming’ gets no global support, says MEA
2 min read . Updated: 09 Aug 2019, 11:24 PM IST
Premium- The statement comes a day after Pakistan severed another people-to-people link, suspending services of the Thar Express
- Pak feel that development activities and the overall welfare of the people of J&K will nullify their justification for cross-border terrorism, said MEA spokesman Raveesh Kumar
New Delhi: Pakistan’s attempts to paint an alarmist picture over its ties with India, after New Delhi revoked provisions of Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, have not succeeded in securing the support of the international community, the Indian foreign ministry said on Friday.
The statement comes a day after Pakistan severed another people-to-people link, suspending services of the Thar Express, which connects Jodhpur in Rajasthan with Karachi. On Wednesday, Pakistan said it was expelling India’s envoy to Islamabad, Ajay Bisaria, and discontinuing bilateral trade with India. Islamabad also said that it would take New Delhi’s action to the United Nations (UN), celebrate its Independence Day on 14 August in solidarity with the Kashmiris, and mark India’s Independence Day on the following day as a “Black Day." On Thursday, Islamabad had also decided to discontinue the bi-weekly Samjhauta Express connecting the two countries.
India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir since 1947. India accuses Pakistan of fomenting terrorism in Kashmir, a charge Pakistan denies.
According to news reports, Pakistan has been in touch with the UK, with Prime Minister Imran Khan speaking to his British counterpart Boris Johnson over India revoking the provisions in the constitution that gave Kashmir special status. And Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi is in China to discuss the matter. Beijing had responded sharply to India naming Ladakh as a Union territory, after bifurcating the erstwhile state, and naming Jammu and Kashmir as the other UT but with a legislative assembly.
But international reaction largely has been non-critical of India. “Frankly, there is a feeling that Pakistan is nervous. They feel that development activities and the overall welfare of the people of Jammu and Kashmir will nullify their justification for cross-border terrorism," Indian foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar told reporters.
Responding to a question on international reaction to India’s move, Kumar said: “It is clear that the attempt by Pakistan to present an alarming picture of the situation and also linking unrelated issues to the sovereign matter of India has not succeeded anywhere."
Pakistan felt that “they will not be able to incite separatist activities, they will not be able to support terrorism, they will not be able to mislead people," Kumar said, adding that in an address to the nation on Thursday evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had outlined a vision of hope for Kashmir that included development and increased economic activity.
Indian high commissioner to Pakistan Bisaria had not yet returned to the country, he said.
On reports of Pakistan closing its air space for Indian flights to transit for destinations in the west of the country, Kumar said that the air space had not been closed. Only some re-routing had happened, “The airspace remains open," he said.
When asked for a response on Pakistan stopping the Samjhauta and Thar Express trains, Kumar said that India regretted the decisions. This move, he said, was also intended to feed the narrative that the situation in Kashmir was alarming. “Already, we see a sense of normalcy and calm in the state," he said adding there had no been no reports of any incidents of violence from any part of the state.
On its part, India had reached out to many world capitals. The contacts were made by senior ministry officials as well as the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. India reached out to individual countries as well as multilateral organisations, he said.
