International Desk: India has expressed strong anger over the visit of the British Ambassador to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) in Islamabad, and a statement has been issued on behalf of the Ministry of External Affairs.
The British Ambassador to Pakistan, Jane Marriott, visited Mirpur in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on January 10 and held several meetings with businessmen, local community members, and government officials. Hindustan Times reported.
India’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday that it considered it “offensive” to “interfere” with the country’s sovereignty and geographical integrity, as British Ambassador Jane Marriott recently visited Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
The statement also said that Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Katra had expressed his displeasure to the British Ambassador to India.
The statement released by the Ministry of External Affairs of India on that issue said that the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh will always be an integral part of India. India views the visit of the British ambassador and embassy officials in Islamabad to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir seriously and strongly objects to it. Such interference in India’s sovereignty and geographical integrity is not acceptable.
It should be noted that Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh recently visited Britain. This was the first visit by an Indian defense minister to Britain in 22 years. There, he met British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and held a meeting with him. Last Wednesday, they discussed bilateral defense and economic relations in detail.
However, this is not the first controversy over going to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Many foreign delegations have visited the area before.
Recently, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament, that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is actually ours. At the same time, he said, we have reserved 24 seats in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly for Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Because that is our place.
It is to be noted that India expressed its objection after US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blom went on a visit to Gilgit-Baltistan last October. New Delhi urged the world to respect India’s sovereignty and geographical integrity.
