Pakistan does not consider a military option to solve disagreements with India over New Delhi's recent move to revoke the special status of its Jammu and Kashmir state, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Thursday
NEW DELHI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th August, 2019) Pakistan does not consider a military option to solve disagreements with India over New Delhi's recent move to revoke the special status of its Jammu and Kashmir state, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Thursday."Pakistan is looking at political, diplomatic and legal options. We are not looking at military option ... We have taken the decision to safeguard and be vigilant against any misadventure," Qureshi said at a televised press conference.
Earlier this week, the Indian government announced its decision to strip Jammu and Kashmir of its special status, which granted the state a certain degree of autonomy for several decades, and split it into two union territories. Both will be controlled by the central government, but only Ladakh will not be allowed its own legislature.
This move prompted clashes on the Indian-Pakistani line of control and forced Islamabad to downgrade its diplomatic relations and suspend trade with its neighbor.
Pakistani Foreign Ministry's spokesman Mohammad Faisal has called for more reactions from the international community regarding India's decision.
India and Pakistan have contended for the Kashmir region, the southern part of which lies in India's Jammu and Kashmir state, since the end of British rule in 1947. Despite a ceasefire being reached in 2003 following several armed conflicts, instability has continued, leading to the emergence of various extremist groups. Tensions spiked earlier this year when the Indian military conducted airstrikes in the region in response to an attack orchestrated by a terrorist group based on the Pakistani side of Kashmir.
