The Indian government’s plan to resettle tens of thousands of pandits in new townships in Kashmir is a violation of the UN Security Council resolutions, a Pakistani government spokeswoman said on Thursday.
The Indian government had said in early April that it planned to resettle tens of thousands of Kashmiri pandits in three new townships in Kashmir. Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokeswoman said that was unacceptable.
Any effort to create special dedicated townships or zones, or any other step to alter the demographic make-up of Jammu and Kashmir, is in violation of the UN Security Council resolutions.
– Tasneem Aslam, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson
“We have already seen how the people of Jammu and Kashmir are resisting it,” she added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party has long vowed to return them to their homes. Kashmiri separatists say the plan for townships is an Israel-style policy of creating settlements in occupied territory.
Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif had said on Wednesday that India was not reciprocating his efforts to maintain good relations between the two nations.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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