New Delhi: Pakistan has no locus standi to pronounce on or interfere in India’s internal matters, India’s External Affairs Ministry said in sharp remarks to a resolution passed in Pakistan on the delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir.
“We categorically reject the farcical resolution passed by the National Assembly of Pakistan on the subject of the delimitation exercise in the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan has no locus standi to pronounce on or interfere in matters that are internal to India, including the Indian territories under Pakistan’s illegal and forcible occupation,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.
Bagchi said the delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir is a democratic exercise based on the principles of extensive stakeholder consultation and participation.
The Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Pakistan should work on “putting their own house in order” rather than interfering in India’s internal affairs and engaging in baseless and provocative anti-India propaganda.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who moved the resolution in Pakistan National Assembly, had alleged India’s move is aimed at artificially altering the electoral strength of Jammu and Kashmir.
The completion of the delimitation exercise paves the way for holding assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. The former state is without an elected government since June 2018.
