Reacting to the changes made by Pakistan to the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Interim Constitution’ (13th Amendment) Act 2018, New Delhi has expressed its “strong protest”, asking Islamabad to vacate all territories illegally occupied by Pakistan in Jammu & Kashmir.
“The Government of India has conveyed a strong protest through diplomatic channel today against the so-called ‘Azad Jammu and Kashmir Interim Constitution (13th Amendment) Act 2018’,” read a press statement from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
The Azad Jammu and Kashmir Interim Constitution’ (13th Amendment) Act, 2018, abolished the AJK Council’s administrative and financial powers, reducing it to an advisory body.
New Delhi said it “clearly conveyed” to Pakistan that the “entire State of Jammu and Kashmir”, including the so-called ‘Azad Jammu and Kashmir’, is an integral part of India by virtue of its accession in 1947.
“Any action to alter the status of any part of the territory under forcible and illegal occupation of Pakistan has no legal basis whatsoever, and is completely unacceptable,” the statement read.
“Instead of seeking to alter the status of the occupied territories, Pakistan should immediately vacate all areas under its illegal occupation,” the MEA said.
Earlier this month, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) dominated a joint sitting of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly and the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Council approved the amendments to the AJK Constitution.
Last month, India had summoned Pakistan’s Deputy High Commissioner Syed Haider Shah and lodged a strong protest over Islamabad’s latest move relating to administrative authority over the Gilgit-Baltistan region, saying any action to alter the status of any part of the territory under its “forcible and illegal occupation” has no legal basis.
Through its order on ‘Gilgit-Baltistan’ on 21 May, Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi seized more authority from the local council to deal with the affairs of the region.