India snubs Pak for calling Kashmir its ‘jugular’
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 5
India today reasserted that Jammu and Kashmir remains an integral part of the country and asked Pakistan not to desire for an area that never was and never will be its.
New Delhi's strong reaction came after Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif described Kashmir as his country's "jugular vein" and vowed to continue political, moral and diplomatic support to Kashmiri people's struggle for the right to self determination.
Sharif made these remarks at the joint session of Kashmir council in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, on the occasion of Kashmir Day that is observed annually in Pakistan. A series of events, including rallies by religious and political bodies, were organised in Pakistan to observe 'Kashmir Day'.
Reacting sharply, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said: "Our view is that Pakistan's self-destructive and futile quest for territorial aggrandisement in J&K is well known to us...the entire state of J-K is and will always remain an integral part of the Indian union".
"It's high time that Pakistan starts paying attention to all the problems that afflicts it rather than covet what is not theirs and never will be," said the spokesperson.
Earlier, Sharif expressed confidence that Kashmir will soon be free and that any decision in this regard will not be made without their consultation. "Our hearts beat with the hearts of our Kashmiri brothers. As a nation we express our sympathies with those who have lost their lives in the (Kashmir) dispute," he said.
"It has been more than 60 years and despite atrocities inflicted upon them, Kashmiris have not given up their struggle...the day is not far when Kashmir would be free," he said.
The premier said that Pakistan would not accept any resolution of the dispute contrary to the aspirations of Kashmiris. He said it was widely known that the innocent people of Jammu and Kashmir were undergoing worst form of human rights violations.
"I salute the Kashmiris for not letting these atrocities deter them from aspiring for their legitimate right to self-determination enshrined in the UN Charter," he added.
