Pakistan on Monday categorically rejected India’s assertions regarding the status of Jammu and Kashmir, calling them baseless and contrary to internationally recognised facts. "India’s unilateral actions and continued illegal occupation cannot alter the internationally recognised disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir," Foreign Office spokesperson Ambassador Sajjad Haider Khan said in a statement.

He said that the Jammu and Kashmir dispute remained one of the oldest unresolved, internationally recognised disputes on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council, as the relevant UN resolutions stipulated that its final disposition must be made in accordance with the relevant Security Council resolutions and the will of the Kashmiri people, expressed through a free and impartial plebiscite under UN auspices.

The spokesperson said that the official United Nations maps depicting Jammu and Kashmir as a disputed territory remained the only cartographic representation of its current legal status. "India’s so-called official maps and unilateral claims of sovereignty have no bearing on the status of the disputed territory," he remarked.

Spokesperson Khan also urged the international community to ensure that India immediately stops human rights violations in the IIOJK, and fulfils its commitment towards the realisation of the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people, in line with the relevant UNSC resolutions.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)