New Delhi (NVI): Any action by Pakistan to alter the status of the “militarily-occupied so-called ‘Gilgit-Baltistan’ has no legal basis whatsoever and is totally void ab-initio”, India said today while commenting on the move by Islamabad to make the occupied region the fifth province of Pakistan.
External Affairs Ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said, “Our position has always been clear and consistent. The entire territories of the UTs of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have been and are an integral part of India and would remain so.
At a briefing here, he also slammed Pakistan for raising the issue of J&K today at the ministerial meetings of SAARC and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA).
“It is very typical of Pakistan to use such fora to raise bilateral and contentious issues which is inconsistent with the principles and charter of such organizations and their meetings. What else can be expected of a country that indulges in cross-border terrorism as a part of its state policy,” the MEA spokesman said.
