India for long has maintained that the area of Jammu and Kashmir is illegally occupied by Pakistan, including the area that the latter calls Azad Kashmir.
New Delhi: Days after the Azad Kashmir Constitution Amendment was passed, India raised the issue with Pakistan on Monday.
In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs here said it had voiced its protest via diplomatic channels “that the entire State of Jammu and Kashmir, which also includes the so-called 'Azad Jammu and Kashmir' is an integral part of India by virtue of its accession in 1947.”
Any action by Pakistan with regards to forcible or illegal occupation was “unacceptable”, India said, adding that Pakistan should vacate all areas under its illegal occupation.
Three days ago, on Friday, in a major breakthrough, a joint sitting of legislative assembly of the area that Pakistan calls Azad Jammu Kashmir and the AJK Council made the 13th amendment to Act 1974 which transferred the power of the council to the AJK government meaning that gives Pakistan the authority to directly address the issues of the region.
India for long has maintained that the area of Jammu and Kashmir is illegally occupied by Pakistan, including the area that the latter calls Azad Kashmir.
The territory has a parliamentary form of government of its own with a President and a Prime Minister. While the region is not represented in Pakistan’s Parliament, it has a link with Pakistan’s ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan.