Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi left for China to hold consultations with the Chinese leadership over India’s decision to revoke Article 370 that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, according to reports on Friday.
“India is intent on disrupting the regional peace with its unconstitutional measures,” The News International quoted Qureshi as saying before flying to Beijing in the early hours of Friday.
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“China is not only a friend to Pakistan but also an important country of the region.”
The Foreign Minister said he will take the Chinese leadership in confidence over the situation.
Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood and other high officials of the Foreign Minister are accompanying Qureshi on the visit.
In an unprecedented move, the Indian government on Monday scrapped Article 370 of the Indian Constitution which gives autonomous status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
It also split the state by hiving off Ladakh region and making it into a Union Territory without a legislature.
Following the developments, the Pakistan government condemned the abrogation of Article 370 saying that it will “exercise all possible options to counter it”.
The Pakistan Foreign Office in a statement said that it “strongly condemns and rejects” the announcement by India to repeal Article 370, which grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
The statement came soon after the Centre proposed to revoke Article 370 of the Constitution and split the state into two Union Territories: Jammu and Kashmir with an Assembly and Ladakh without one.
