Leh: Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday launched an attack on Pakistan following a rift between two countries after revoking special status from Jammu and Kashmir.
Singh who is on his first visit to Ladakh after it was declared a Union Territory, said Pakistan’s efforts to seek support from other countries on the scrapping of Article 370 won’t bear any fruit and no one is backing Islamabad.
“I want to ask Pakistan, when did Kashmir ever belong to you. Kashmir was always part of India. Pakistan has no locus stand on this matter,” he said.
The defence minister said Pakistan should instead focus on human rights violations and atrocities in Pakistan occupied Kashmir.
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He had earlier said that talks with Islamabad can only be held on the issue of PoK. Rajnath Singh also said US Defense Secretary Mark Esper had told him that nullification of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir was India’s internal matter.
Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar slammed Pakistan for using terrorism as a ‘diplomatic tool’ hoping that Pakistan would one day become a ‘normal’ neighbour.
“Today if you look at international relations, I cannot think of any other country in the world which actually uses terrorism as a diplomatic tool against its neighbour. It is actually a unique phenomenon,” Jaishankar said at an interaction at the Valdai Discussion Club.