In an assertive move, in line with India’s stated position, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has started to issue daily weather forecasts for territories falling in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and Gilgit- Baltistan. The department has also renamed one of its sub-divisions to reflect the same.
The IMD which works under the Ministry of Earth Sciences has started to issue daily weather reports for the Gilgit-Baltistan region as well as Muzzafarabad. Both these regions are part of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and are presently under the illegal occupation of Pakistan.
This development came immediately after the Pakistan Supreme Court on April 30, permitted the federal government in Islamabad to hold its sham elections and appoint individuals to rule the region.
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The Ministry of External Affairs had immediately summoned Pakistan’s top diplomat in New Delhi and lodged India’s strong protest against the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s decision to blatantly interfere in India’s domestic affairs.
The IMD has also renamed its Jammu and Kashmir subdivision to Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Muzzafarabad sub-division.
The IMD has 36 sub-divisions across the nation.
In recent times, India has increased pressure on Pakistan to vacate its illegal occupation of territories in PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan.
The policy is guided by a 1994 Resolution of the Indian Parliament that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India.