FO reiterates Kashmir’s disputed status, rejects India’s claims

Maintaining its firm position on Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), Pakistan has once again rejected what it described as baseless Indian claims concerning IIOJK, saying India’s unilateral actions and “illegal occupation” cannot alter the disputed status of the region.

Responding to media queries regarding a statement issued by India’s Ministry of External Affairs on the map of IIOJK, Foreign Office spokesperson Ambassador Sajjad Haider Khan said via statement on X that Pakistan “categorically rejects India’s baseless assertions regarding the status of Jammu and Kashmir”.

“India’s unilateral actions and continued illegal occupation cannot alter the internationally recognised disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said. Khan said the Kashmir dispute remains one of the oldest unresolved and internationally recognised disputes on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council.

“The relevant UN resolutions stipulate that its final disposition must be made in accordance with the relevant Security Council resolutions and the will of the Kashmiri people, expressed through a free and impartial plebiscite under UN auspices,” the statement said.

The spokesperson said official UN maps depicting Jammu and Kashmir as a disputed territory remain the only cartographic representation of its current legal status.

“India’s so-called official maps and unilateral claims of sovereignty have no bearing on the status of the disputed territory,” the statement said.

The statement also mentioned that Pakistan urged the international community to ensure that India immediately stopped human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and fulfilled its commitment to the Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination.

The statement added that this must be done “in line with the relevant UNSC resolutions”.

‘Accurate’ map

Earlier on September 6, India backed a UN General Assembly resolution calling for more accurate world maps while stressing that its position on Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh remains ‘unchanged’.

The resolution, adopted on September 4 by 164 votes to one, promotes equal-area map projections that better reflect the relative size of continents. India said the measure does not endorse any particular map, projection or political boundaries.

Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the resolution does not address disputed territories or national borders. However, he insisted that India’s sovereign territory, including the Illegally Occupied Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, must be shown according to India’s ‘official’ map.

Jaiswal said any depiction that India considers inaccurate or misleading would be unacceptable, describing New Delhi’s position on sovereignty and territorial integrity as “clear, consistent and non-negotiable”.

The resolution was part of an African-led campaign to address distortions associated with the Mercator projection.