Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson has reiterated Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement in Parliament that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) is part of India and consequently 24 seats have been kept reserved for the region in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly. MEA spokesperson Arindam Baghchi on Thursday said, “Our position on Pok is very clear, we consider it a part of India and we certainly see no reason to change our statement.”
On Pakistan’s rejection of Union HM Amit Shah’s ‘PoK is ours’ remark in the Lok Sabha, MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, “…I don’t think I need to really reiterate our position on PoK. I don’t need to clarify the Home Minister’s statement in the Parliament. Our position on Pok is very clear, we consider it a part of India and we certainly see no reason to change our statement…”
Amit Shah had given the statement while replying to a debate in the Lok Sabha on the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill.
The home minister said after the delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir to redraw assembly and parliamentary constituencies, there will be 43 assembly seats in Jammu region — up from present 37, and 47 in Kashmir Valley, up from 46.
“As many as 24 seats have been kept for PoK because the region is our own,” he said.
Shah also said that Kashmir had to suffer due to two major “Nehruvian blunders” – declaring a ceasefire without winning the entire Kashmir and taking the issue to the United Nations.
When India’s Army was winning and as soon as Punjab area was reached, the ceasefire was declared and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir was born. “If the ceasefire would have been (declared) three days later, PoK would have been part of India,” the home minister said.
The MEA spokesperson also replied to the question on the Afghanistan Embassy and said, “Afghan Embassy in New Delhi and the consulates in Mumbai and Hyderabad are functional. You can see from the flag who they represent and our position on the condition of entities has not changed. The Afghan diplomats will continue to provide services to the Afghan nationals here.”
He also updated about the Indian government’s appeal for eight former navy personnel in Qatar and mentioned that the Indian ambassador got consular access on December 3.
