Pakistan has suspended bilateral trade with India as well as downgraded diplomatic relations in reaction to New Delhi’s abrogation of special status for Kashmir, which it says flouts international norms and annexation of the disputed Himalayan territory.
In a statement issued after a meeting of the National Security Committee, Islamabad said it would review bilateral agreements with India and take the issue up with the United Nations and the UN Security Council.
The statement added that Pakistan’s Independence Day on August 14 would be dedicated to “brave Kashmiris and their struggle for their right of self-determination.”
The NSC meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, included Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, members of cabinet and top military leaders including Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Zubair Hayat, Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan, Vice Chief of the Naval Staff and ISI Director-General Lt Gen Faiz Hameed.
Kashmiri leaders, who previously pursued alliance with New Delhi, have joined independent and pro-Pakistan figures in the Indian-controlled UN-recognized disputed territory in condemning the Indian PM Naredra Modi’s one-sided decision as betrayal of the people. Many have called the move to revoke Article 370 of the Constitution, which gave Kashmir a special status, as a dark day for the region as now the people of Jammu and Kashmir will face demographic changes and be subject to invasion by Indian traders and settlers.
In addition to ending bilateral trade, which has been valued at several billion dollars annually, Pakistani officials said the government might close the country’s airspace to Indian aircraft and recall its top diplomat in India.
In a speech in the Pakistani Parliament before the measures were announced, Fawad Chaudhry, the science and technology minister, called India a “fascist regime” and said another war over Kashmir, where decades of fighting has killed tens of thousands of people, was not off the table.
“Pakistan should not let Kashmir become another Palestine,” Chaudhry said. “We have to choose between dishonor and war.”
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Foreign Office on Wednesday evening summoned Deputy High Commissioner of India and formally conveyed the decision of asking the High Commission Ajay Basaria leave Islamabad.
Pakistan has also decided not to send its new High Commissioner to India, Mueenul Haq who was scheduled to assume the charge on August 16.
