J&K, Ladakh integral part of India: MEA

New Delhi: India has not sent any message to Pakistan for talks as claimed by its Prime Minister Imran Khan’s special advisor on national security, the external affairs ministry said on Thursday, and asserted that Islamabad’s support to terrorism and use of abusive language against New Delhi are not conducive to normal neighbourly relations.
MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava also dubbed the “misleading and fictitious” claim by Khan’s advisor Moeed Yusuf as an effort by Pakistan to divert attention from domestic failures of the government and mislead its people by pulling India into headlines on a daily basis.
In an interview to an Indian news website, Yusuf had claimed that India had sent messages to Islamabad expressing a desire for conversation. He also talked about Kashmir among other issues during the interview.
Reacting to Yusuf’s remarks, Srivasta said, “as regards the purported message, let me make it clear that no such message was sent from our side. We have seen reports on the interview by a senior Pakistani official to an Indian media outlet. He has commented on India’s internal matters.”
“As always, this is Pakistan’s effort to divert attention from domestic failures of the present government and mislead its domestic constituents by pulling India into headlines on a daily basis,” he added.
Srivastava said the official is well advised to restrict his counsel to his establishment and not to comment on India’s domestic policy.
“The statements made by him are contrary to facts on the ground, misleading and fictitious,” the MEA Spokesperson said.
Srivastava said Pakistani leadership continues to indulge in inappropriate, provocative and hate speech against India, and its support to terrorism against India and use of “derogatory and abusive language” was not conducive to normal neighbourly relations.
“Pakistan continues to support, aid and abet cross-border terrorism against India and has also been resorting to unprovoked ceasefire violations to support terrorist infiltration.
Ties between India and Pakistan nosedived after an attack on the Pathankot Air Force base in 2016 by militant groups based in the neighbouring country. Subsequent attacks, including one on Indian Army camp in Uri, further deteriorated the relationship.
The relationship further dipped after Pulwama attack in in which 40 CRPF soldiers were killed.
Withdrawal of Jammu and Kashmir’s special powers and bifurcating the state into two union territories in August last year also evoked a strong reaction from Pakistan, which has been unsuccessfully trying to rally international support against India on the Kashmir issue.
Meanwhile, India on Thursday asserted that the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh “have been, are, and would” remain an integral part of the country, insisting that China has no locus standi to comment on its internal matters.
The comments by External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava came in response to China’s contention that it does not recognise the union territory of Ladakh as well as the state of Arunachal Pradesh.
“Our position on this has always been clear and consistent. The union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have been, are, and would remain an integral part of India. China has no locus standi to comment on India’s internal matters,” Srivastava said at a media briefing.
“We hope that countries will not comment on India’s internal matters, as much as they expect the same of others,” he added.
Srivastava also said that Arunachal Pradesh is an “integral and inalienable” part of India.
“Our position on Arunachal Pradesh has also been made clear several times. Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inalienable part of India. This fact has also been clearly conveyed to the Chinese side on several occasions, including at the highest level,” he added.
After Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated a number of new bridges in certain border areas on Monday, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said China does not recognise the Ladakh union territory “illegally set up” by India as well as Arunachal Pradesh.
The Chinese spokesperson had also claimed that development of border infrastructure by India was the “root cause” of tensions between the two countries.
On the border standoff in eastern Ladakh and the outcome of the bilateral military talks, Srivastava referred to a joint press statement issued by the two armies after their dialogue on October 12, calling the meeting “positive and constructive”.
“Disengagement is a complex process that requires redeployment of troops by each side towards their regular posts on their respective sides of the LAC,” Srivastava said.
“To achieve this, the two sides will maintain the current momentum of communications based on the guidance of our leadership to not to turn differences into disputes and work towards a mutually acceptable solution for complete disengagement in all the friction areas along the Line of Actual Control(LAC) and restoration of peace and tranquility in the India-China border areas,” he added. PTI

Press Trust of India