Pakistan urges world to act on India's defiance on Kashmir, GB.

Byline: SHAFQAT ALI

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan has urged the world to act on India's defiance on held Kashmir and the Gilgit-Baltistan which was threatening regional peace. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said India was escalating tension at a time when the whole world was fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

daily ceasefire violations are an eye opener for the world. There must a strong global voice against this defiance,' he said, on Monday, while speaking to The Nation. Qureshi said Pakistan was raising the issue of India's belligerence at all international forums. 'All of India's irresponsible statements are being shared with the world,' he remarked.

Over the weekend, Pakistan had rejected inclusion of Kashmir valley under its control and northern Gilgit-Baltistan region by India's state-run TV and radio channels in their weather bulletins.

The move came days after New Delhi declared Azad Jammu Kashmir and the Gilgit-Baltistan region, which borders neighboring China, its 'part, with Indian officials saying the private broadcasters will also be advised to carry weather reports from the disputed region in their news bulletins.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said: 'Like the so-called 'political maps' issued last year by India, this move is also legally void, contrary to reality, and in violation of the relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions. This is another mischievous Indian action in support of a spurious claim and another evidence of India's irresponsible behavior.'

She added: 'No illegal and unilateral steps by India can change the 'disputed' status of Jammu and Kashmir, recognized as such by the international community including the United Nations. Such moves by the Government of India cannot prejudice the inalienable right to self-determination of the people of Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.'

Pakistan, Farooqui added, wpi;d urge India not to make baseless assertions and to abstain from misleading the world community through unfounded claims on regions that constitute internationally recognized disputed territories.

Yesterday, Aisha Farooqui said that Pakistan's policy on Kashmir and GB remained unchanged. 'We want a solution based on the UN resolutions,' she told The Nation.

Already strained relations between the two nuclear neighbors have plummeted to a new low after India scrapped the longstanding special status of Jammu and Kashmir last August.

Since then, the two border forces had exchanged fire on...