Pakistan condemns India’s move to abolish Kashmir’s special status as ‘illegal’

PM Khan calls Mahathir and Turkey’s Erdogan to warn that the decision could have ‘serious implications’ for regional security

Washington urges all parties to maintain peace and stability along the de facto border

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Pakistanis protest after the Indian government removed the special status granted to the region of Kashmir, in Lahore. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 10:27am, 6 Aug 2019Updated: 10:12pm, 6 Aug 2019

Pakistan has condemned India’s move to abolish Kashmir’s special status as “illegal”, insisting it was an internationally recognised disputed territory.

The decision by New Delhi to strip Kashmir of the special autonomy it has enjoyed for seven decades also prompted small protests across Pakistan, which administers part of the Himalayan region.

“No unilateral step by the Government of India can change this disputed status … As the party to this international dispute, Pakistan will exercise all possible options to counter the illegal steps,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence in 1947.

For three decades the Indian-administered part – the country’s only Muslim-majority state – has been in the grip of an insurgency that has left tens of thousands dead.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry added that the move, which Islamabad “strongly rejects and condemns”, will not “ever be acceptable to the people of Jammu & Kashmir and Pakistan”.

“Pakistan reaffirms its abiding commitment to the Kashmir cause and its political, diplomatic and moral support to the people of Occupied Jammu and Kashmir for realisation of their inalienable right to self-determination,” the statement said.