Slamming recent remarks of Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on the Kashmir dispute, the Foreign Office on Sunday rubbished “any narrative that suggests that the dispute has been or can be settled unilaterally.”
On Friday, according to Indian media, Jaishankar had said the era of “uninterrupted dialogue” between Delhi and Islamabad was over, adding Article 370 had ‘settled” the Jammu and Kashmir issue. “The issue [now] is what kind of relationship we can contemplate with Pakistan,” he added.
In a statement responding to queries on the remarks, the Foreign Office spokesperson emphasized that the Jammu and Kashmir dispute was internationally recognized and could only be resolved in accordance with relevant United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions and the wishes of the Kashmiri people. “Resolution of this unresolved conflict is pivotal to peace and stability in South Asia,” added spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch.
Referring to Jaishankar’s remarks, she said such claims were not only “misleading but dangerously delusional, as they blatantly disregard the on-ground realities.” She stressed that India’s unilateral actions in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) could not, and would not, “change this reality.”
Reiterating that Pakistan was committed to diplomacy and dialogue, the statement warned that any hostile actions from its neighbor would trigger “unyielding resolve.” The spokesperson urged India to abandon its “provocative rhetoric” about the occupied territory, adding it should shift to engaging in meaningful dialogue for a just and lasting resolution to the dispute.
The statement also emphasized that achieving true peace and stability in South Asia required a settlement of the dispute in accordance with relevant UNSC resolutions and the inalienable rights of the Kashmiri people.
Ties between Pakistan and India have virtually been frozen since Delhi’s 2019 decision to unilaterally abrogate the special status accorded to IIOJK in its constitution. Since the decision, Islamabad has repeatedly linked any resumption of bilateral ties to the restoration of the region’s special status.