External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday said that there is only one issue to discuss on Kashmir which is, when does Pakistan vacate its illegal occupation of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. He was responding to a question in a press conference after the SCO meeting regarding Pakistan, its involvement in G20 and Kashmir. Jaishankar also asserted that Jammu and Kashmir “was, is and will” always be part of India.
Indian EAM Jaishankar added, “I said they (Pakistan) have nothing to do with G20. I will also say that they have nothing to do with Srinagar. There is only one issue to discuss on Kashmir which is when does Pakistan vacate its illegal occupation of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.”
Article 370 is history and sooner the people realise it, the better it is.
Taking questions from reporters at the conclusion of the SCO foreign ministers’ meeting in Goa, Jaishankar said, “…wake up and smell the coffee. 370 is history. The sooner people realise it, the better it is.”
Earlier during the day, in a hard-hitting attack on his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar called him as a “promoter, justifier and a spokesperson” of the terrorism industry, his position on the menace was called out at the SCO meeting.
On Bhutto Zardari’s comments on tackling terrorism, Jaishankar said Pakistan’s credibility in dealing with is depleting even faster than their forex reserves.
Asked whether there could be talks between India and Pakistan on combating the menace, the external affairs minister said, “Victims of terrorism do not sit together with perpetrators of terrorism to discuss terrorism”.
The meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) saw an intense face-off between India and Pakistan over terror on Friday, with EAM Jaishankar accusing his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari of being a “justifier (and) spokesperson of a terrorism industry”.
Responding to remarks made by Bhutto Zardari at a meeting of SCO foreign ministers and at a subsequent news conference, Jaishankar said India will counter and delegitimize cross-border terrorism and call out Pakistan’s backing for it. He lashed out at Bhutto Zardari’s efforts to link the resumption of dialogue to the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, saying the only issue up for discussion would be Islamabad’s vacation of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
See Also: https://indiadiplomacy.in/pauper-pakistan-rakes-up-jk-only-to-be-snubbed-by-india/
