Sino-Pak corridor via PoK annoys New Delhi

The downhill run of Indo-Pak relations continues as India on Thursday chided Pakistan for sending 22 envoys to raise the Kashmir issue with other countries and expressed its concerns over the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that passes through PoK, saying it was a “sovereign” Indian territory under Islamabad’s forcible occupation.
Picture Courtesy | @MEAIndia
Picture Courtesy | @MEAIndia

NEW DELHI: The downhill run of Indo-Pak relations continues as India on Thursday chided Pakistan for sending 22 envoys to raise the Kashmir issue with other countries and expressed its concerns over the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that passes through PoK, saying it was a “sovereign” Indian territory under Islamabad’s forcible occupation.

“So far, as the CPEC is concerned, there also our position has been made clear to both the parties concerned that it passes through Indian sovereign territory under Pakistan’s illegal occupation and when we say PoK it is exactly that Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir. It is a part of the Indian territory and we have concerns about any project happening there with third party collaboration,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Vikas Swarup said on a day when Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif inaugurated five CPEC projects in Gwadar.  The projects are part of the $46-billion project undertaken by China to get access to Gwadar port.

Meanwhile, Sharif has written a letter – his second in a month — to UN Secretary General to intervene in the Kashmir issue by sending a fact-finding mission to probe the alleged human rights violations in the Valley.

“Sending out 22 envoys is not going to make their baseless and untenable claims legitimate. Instead of sending 22 envoys with the wrong message to the wrong countries, it would have been better to send one envoy with the right message to the right country,” Swarup said.

The MEA spokesperson said, “They can write as many letters as they want, but this will not change the reality on the ground. Jammu & Kashmir is an integral part of India.”

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