Pakistan refutes India's 'baseless, fallacious' claim on Gilgit-Baltistan: FO

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday refuted India's "baseless and fallacious" claim about Gilgit-Baltistan, the Foreign Office said in a statement after summoning a senior Indian diplomat.

In its statement, the Foreign Office said Pakistan "clearly conveyed that the Indian claim over the occupied state of Jammu and Kashmir as an 'integral part' of India had no legal basis whatsoever".

"The entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is a 'disputed' territory and is recognized as such by the international community," it added, noting that the dispute originated from India's "forcible and illegal occupation" of Kashmir in 1947 and that that was a violation of both the international law and the Kashmiri people's rights.

The Kashmir dispute, the FO added, is "the longest outstanding item on the agenda of the UNSC".

"No subsequent illegal and unilateral Indian actions could or have altered the status of Jammu and Kashmir as a disputed territory," the statement highlighted, noting that only the "faithful implementation" of the United Nations Security Council's (UNSC) resolutions was the solution.

The UNSC resolutions "recognize the Kashmiris’ inalienable right to self-determination through the democratic method of free and impartial plebiscite under the UN auspices", the FO said.

"Pending the resolution of the dispute, any unilateral Indian actions in IOJ&K were illegal."

In addition, India's unilateral move on August 5, 2019, to scrap Kashmir's special status under the constitution was "in violation of the 4th Geneva Convention, were illegal and in clear violation of the UNSC Resolutions".

"The baseless Indian contention about Gilgit-Baltistan could neither cover up the atrocities being perpetrated by the Indian occupation forces against innocent, unarmed Kashmiris in IOK, nor could they succeed in diverting the attention of the international community from the Indian state terrorism and aggravating human rights situation in IOJ&K.

Pakistan called upon India "to immediately reverse all of its illegal actions in IOJ&K, including ending illegal occupation of the territory, and let the people of Jammu and Kashmir exercise their right to self-determination as enshrined in the UNSC Resolutions".

The statement noted: "Reiterating Pakistan’s condemnation of the continuing grave human rights violations by Indian occupation forces in IOJ&K, India was called upon to lift restrictions and communication blackout, release illegally detained Kashmiri youth and incarcerated Kashmiri leadership, and withdraw draconian laws such as Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and Public safety Act (PSA) in IOJ&K."