India protests UK diplomat’s visit to Azad Jammu and Kashmir

MUMBAI: India said on Saturday it had lodged a protest over a senior British diplomat’s visit to Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), saying the trip this week had infringed on India’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

Kashmir is claimed in full, but controlled only in part, by nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, which have fought two wars and engaged in numerous clashes over the Himalayan region since 1947.

From boom to bust: Tesla’s worst-ever start to a year unfolds

British High Commissioner to Pakistan Jane Marriott visited AJK along with an official from the UK Foreign Office on January 10, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

India’s Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra has lodged a “strong protest” to the British High Commissioner to India about the visit, the ministry said, calling the trip “unacceptable”.

A spokesperson for the British Foreign Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. This week’s visit came as both India and Pakistan head to polls for elections this year.