Pak rejects domicile certificates granted by India to non-natives of J-K

As per the new domicile law, non-permanent residents who have residency proof of at least 15 years in Jammu and Kashmir are entitled to get domicile certificates.

Pakistan on Saturday “rejected” the grant of domicile certificates by India to the people not originally from Jammu and Kashmir.

Labourers in boats go about de-weeding the Dal Lake in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. (Waseem Andrabi/ Hindustan Times))

As per the new domicile law, non-permanent residents who have residency proof of at least 15 years in Jammu and Kashmir are entitled to get domicile certificates.

Over 30,000 people have till now received domicile certificates online in Jammu and Kashmir after the Indian government changed laws to grant residency to different categories of non-residents in the Union territory.

The Foreign Office “rejected” the grant of domicile certificates by India to the people not originally from Jammu and Kashmir.

“The certificates issued to non-Kashmiris including, among others, the Indian government officials under ‘Jammu and Kashmir Grant of Domicile Certificate (Procedure), 2020’ are illegal, void and in complete violation of the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions, and International law including the 4th Geneva Convention,” the FO said.

It asked the international community to intervene to stop India from what it called “changing the demographic structure of Kashmir”.