India hits back at Norway FM’s Kashmir remarks during Pakistan visit

India says Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh are integral parts of the country, while urging the world to focus on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and cross-border terrorism.

Published on: Aug 14, 2026, 21:28:48 IST

By Rezaul H Laskar

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India on Friday pushed back against Norwegian foreign minister Espen Barth Eide’s remarks on Kashmir during a visit to Islamabad, saying the world community should focus on Pakistan’s use of illegally occupied portions of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir to back cross-border terrorism.

India hits back at Norway FM’s Kashmir remarks in Pakistan, reiterating its position on Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh and raising concerns over cross-border terror.

At a joint media briefing with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in Islamabad on Thursday, Eide said his visit — the first by a Norwegian foreign minister in a decade — was an opportunity to discuss regional issues ranging from Jammu and Kashmir to Afghanistan. Dar said he briefed Eide on the “long-standing unresolved” dispute over Kashmir and the new dimension added to the “volatile security situation” by India’s decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty.

“Let me say that the whole of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh are an integral and inalienable part of India,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a regular media briefing when he was asked about the Norwegian foreign minister’s comments.

“The issue that should concern the international community are the atrocities currently being perpetrated in the illegal Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and the use of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir for cross-border terrorism,” he said.

India has repeatedly criticised Pakistan’s handling of widespread protests over the cost of living and elections to the local assembly in PoK in recent weeks. Dozens of people have died in a crackdown by security forces on the protests led by the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC).

Jaiswal responded to another question on Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s remarks criticising India’s decision to keep the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance by saying that there had been no change in New Delhi’s position on the matter.

“You are aware of our position on the Indus Waters Treaty and there has been no change in that,” he said, referring to India’s decision to suspend the pact following the Pahalgam terror attack in April last year.

Addressing an event in Islamabad on Thursday, Sharif said India had “proved itself an enemy of peace” by unilaterally suspending the Indus Waters Treaty. “I declare in clear terms that every drop of Pakistan’s water is our red line. If India does not come to its senses, it will be responded to directly.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rezaul H Laskar
Rezaul Hasan Laskar is Foreign Editor with the Hindustan Times, which he joined in 2015. He began as a journalist in his hometown of Shillong in northeast India and has worked in newspapers and wire services over the years. He moved to New Delhi in 1997 and initially focused on defence, national security, Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, while also working of foreign policy and international relations. He has been part of the media delegation accompanying PMs on foreign visits and has reported from destinations ranging from Tibet to Ukraine. Between 2007 and 2013, he was the Press Trust of India correspondent in Pakistan, one of only two Indian journalists allowed to report from the country. He extensively covered Pakistan’s domestic politics and the life of the common people, as well as the fallout of the 2008 Mumbai attacks on India-Pakistan relations and the subsequent trial in Pakistan of the suspects involved in the attack. As part of his reportage in Pakistan, he travelled the breadth of the country, from the Swat Valley to Balochistan. Reza’s first gig in journalism was writing a weekly music column, and music – especially classic rock – remains a keen interest. He is also a movie buff and a keen photographer.Read More

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