Pakistan on Saturday took exception to the Indian government’s move to hold meetings related to the G-20 event, scheduled for November next year in Delhi, in Jammu and Kashmir.
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“The Government of India might be contemplating to hold some G20-related meeting or event in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). Pakistan completely rejects any such attempt by India,” a Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman said in Islamabad.
He said Jammu and Kashmir was an internationally recognised “disputed” territory between Pakistan and India.
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“Contemplating the holding of any G-20-related meeting or event in J&K, in utter disregard of the globally acknowledged “disputed” status of the territory, is a travesty that the international community cannot accept under any circumstances,” the spokesman added.
The spokesman said any such controversial proposal from India would be designed to seek international legitimacy for an illegal and tyrannical occupation continuing for over seven decades.
“The G-20 members will be fully cognizant of the imperatives of law and justice and would reject it outright”.
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“Pakistan also strongly urges the international community to call upon India to end its gross and systematic violations of human rights in J&K, revoke its illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019, and free all political prisoners including the true Kashmiri leaders,” the spokesman said.
The Pakistan reaction comes a day after the Jammu and Kashmir administration constituted a committee to coordinate with the delegates of G-20 countries scheduled to participate in meetings to be held in the Union Territory (UT) in the run-up to the summit in Delhi next year.
“The idea is to hold preparatory meetings of the G-20 on a pan India basis,” a senior official told The Hindu, adding that venues will be finalised based on accommodation and connectivity and other parameters, involving the State government’s in the consultative process.