Pakistan criticised India’s announcement to conduct G20 meetings in the disputed Kashmir region next month and described it as an “unwise” decision.
Kashmir is claimed by both countries but governed partially. The two nations, which have fought three wars, including two over Kashmir, are armed with nuclear weapons.
India currently holds the presidency of the G20, which rotates every year, and is scheduled to organize a summit of leaders in New Delhi in early September.
Last week, India released a full calendar of events leading up to the summit, which included G20 and Youth 20 meetings in Kashmir’s summer capital of Srinagar and in Leh, in the neighbouring region of Ladakh, in April and May.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry issued a statement condemning the choice of venues in disputed territory.
“India’s irresponsible move is the latest in a series of self serving measures to perpetuate its illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir,” it said.
It went on to accuse India of acting in “disregard of the UN Security Council resolutions and in violation of the principles of the UN Charter and international law.”
“Pakistan vehemently condemns these moves,” it said.
India’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment on the statement from Pakistan.
New Delhi has long accused Pakistan of stoking a decades-long separatist insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, the only Muslim-majority region in India.
Islamabad denies that accusation, saying it only provides diplomatic and moral support for Kashmiris seeking self-determination.
Pakistan also accuses India of human rights violations in the parts of Kashmir under its control, a charge New Delhi rejects.
(Reuters)
