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Pakistan to Indian politicians amid Lok Sabha elections: ‘Don’t drag us for political gains'
Speaking during a press conference in Islamabad, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said that Pakistan rejected all of India's claims over Jammu and Kashmir.
Pakistan's foreign office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch has urged Indian politicians on Friday to not drag Pakistan for political gains in their speeches.
Speaking during a press conference in Islamabad, Baloch said that Pakistan rejected all of India's claims over Jammu and Kashmir.
“Indian politicians to cease their reckless practice of dragging Pakistan into India’s populist public discourse for electoral motives,” she said.
“We are witnessing an alarming surge in provocative statements from Indian leaders asserting unwarranted claims on Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan rejects these claims. Fuelled by hyper-nationalism, this inflammatory rhetoric poses a grave threat to regional peace and susceptibility,” Baloch also said as quoted by Pakistan-based Dawn News.
Pakistan's comments come as Indian politicians are campaigning for the national elections of one of the world's largest democracies.
The spokesperson also said that claims by Indian politicians were baseless and were contrary to any historical or legal facts.
“Historical and legal facts as well as ground realities refute India’s baseless claims over Jammu and Kashmir.”
On several occasions, India has refuted such statements on Kashmir by Pakistan.
The Ministry of External Affairs has repeatedly said, as reported by PTI, “The Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir and the Union Territory of Ladakh are and always will be integral and inalienable parts of India. No other country has a locus standi to comment on the same.”
On several occasions, leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have mentioned Pakistan while campaigning for the LS elections.
On April 11, defense minister Rajnath Singh said during a rally in Madhya Pradesh's Satna district, “The way Jammu-Kashmir is heading towards development, I feel that people in PoK think that their development is only possible at the hands of PM Modi and not Pakistan. The people in PoK might say they want to be with India. PoK was, is and will always be our (India) part.”
Earlier in the month, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, during a press conference in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram, “On the issue of PoK, there is a national position and not the party's position. The Parliament of India has taken a united stand and every political party in the country has supported that stand. We will never accept that the PoK is not a part of India. It's a united stand, it remains our stand.”
