ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Monday said Pakistan was considering to approach US President Donald Trump, following India's 'unconstitutional' move to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
"Pakistan wanted to resolve the Kashmir dispute through mutual negotiations, however India has further complicated the issue," the foreign minister said while speaking to a television channel.
President Trump had recently offered Pakistan and India to mediate on the issue of Kashmir during his meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan in Washington last month.
India on Monday through a presidential decree abolished Article 370 of its Constitution that earlier gave autonomy to the Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir.
Foreign Minister Qureshi said special instructions had been given to Pakistan's Permanent Representative to United Nations Dr Maleeha Lodhi to meet with authorities in New York to convey the country's reaction.
Terming India's move as 'absurd', he said changing the constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir would neither help resolve the dispute, nor end the Kashmiris' right to self-determination.
He said the step had exposed India's malicious designs against the Muslim population of Occupied Kashmir and urged upon the international Islamic community to take notice of the situation.
The foreign minister said opposition in India had strongly resisted the unjustified step by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Foreign Office in a statement condemned the Indian decision on Jammu and Kashmir, saying "No unilateral step by the Government of India can change this disputed status as enshrined in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions."
"As the party to this international dispute, Pakistan will exercise all possible options to counter the illegal steps," the statement added.
Comments
Comments are closed.