The Foreign Office (FO) said on Sunday that insinuations linking Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s remarks about India’s decision to hold G20 meetings in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu Kashmir (IIOJK) with a threat of violence were “not only mischievous but highly irresponsible.”

While visiting India for two days to participate in the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) meeting, FM Bilawal denounced New Delhi’s decision to host G-20 meetings in disputed areas.

Responding to questions regarding the matter in a media talk, FM Bilawal had said: “Obviously we condemn it and at the time we will give such a response that it will be remembered.”

The Narendra Modi government had earlier announced that the G20 Tourism Working Group meeting would be held in Srinagar from May 22 to May 24.

The Foreign Office stated this morning that the foreign minister, while visiting India, had emphasised the “critical importance of relevant UN Security Council resolutions” for a peaceful resolution to the Kashmir dispute.

“Clearly, he based his case on international law,” the statement added.

The statement noted the Foreign Ministry had already “articulated Pakistan’s position on the G-20 Tourism Working Group meeting in IIOJK in its press release of 11 April 2023”.

“Any insinuation, associating foreign minister’s remarks with a threat of violence, is not only mischievous but highly irresponsible. It is an attempt to shift focus from the Foreign Minister’s key message of conflict resolution through dialogue and in accordance with international law and UN security council resolutions,” the FO stressed.

In the past, Pakistan has criticised India’s decision to hold a G-20 Tourism Working Group meeting in IIOJK, with the FO stating the move was to advance its “self-serving agenda”.

Pakistan maintains that IIOJK is an internationally recognised dispute that has remained on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council for over seven decades.