ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan on Tuesday condemned India’s decision to hold Group of 20 meetings in the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir next month, calling the move “irresponsible”.
Kashmir is claimed in full but ruled in part by the two nuclear-armed neighbours who have fought two of their three wars over control of the region.
India currently holds the rotating year-long presidency of the G20 and is set to host a leaders’ summit in New Delhi in early September.
On Friday, India released a full calendar of events leading up to the summit, which included G20 and Youth 20 meetings in Kashmir’s summer capital of Srinagar and in Leh, in the neighbouring region of Ladakh, in April and May.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry issued a statement condemning the choice of venues in disputed territory.
“India’s irresponsible move is the latest in a series of self serving measures to perpetuate its illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir,” it said.
It went on to accuse India of acting in “disregard of the UN Security Council resolutions and in violation of the principles of the UN Charter and international law.”
“Pakistan vehemently condemns these moves,” it said.
India’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request seeking comment on the statement from Pakistan.
New Delhi has long accused Pakistan of stoking a decades-long separatist insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, the only Muslim-majority region in India.
Islamabad denies that accusation, saying it only provides diplomatic and moral support for Kashmiris seeking self-determination.
Pakistan also accuses India of human rights violations in the parts of Kashmir under its control, a charge New Delhi rejects.
(Reporting by Asif Shahzad; Writing by Shivam Patel; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
