Bob Blackman, one of the most vocal British MPs on the Kashmir issue asked Pakistan to leave PoK, asserting that India had sovereign right over the entire region.
Bob Blackman, one of the most vocal British MPs on the Kashmir issue asked Pakistan to leave PoK, asserting that India had sovereign right over the entire region.
Addressing a UK-based Kashmiri pandit gathering in London on Saturday, the Tory MP said: "The entirety of the state of Jammu and Kashmir is part of sovereign India, and people that ask for UN resolution to be implemented ignore the first resolution, which is that Pakistani military forces should leave Kashmir to re-unite the state.”
1. UK PM on India-Pak
)
Earlier, Boris Johnson had described both India and Pakistan as ‘important partners to the UK’. He was responding to an earlier letter by Bob Blackman on the issue. Johnson had written: "The government's long-standing position remains that it is for India and Pakistan to find a lasting political solution to the situation in Kashmir, in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people," Johnson noted.
"Both India and Pakistan are important partners to the UK. Our respective bilateral relationships continue to flourish. This is demonstrated by cooperation with both countries on a range of issues, as well as the vibrancy of our people-to-people links bolstered by large and active Indian and Pakistani diaspora here in the UK," Johnson added.
2. Blackman - vocal Modi supporter
)
Blackman, a vocal Modi supporter had written the letter to condemn the Opposition Labour Party for breaking from UK’s long-held position that Kashmir was a ‘strictly bilateral issue’.
The Tory MP accused the Opposition MPs of making provocative claims against India which has a long-established tradition of respecting all faiths in his letter, which attracted support on social media from a wide range of BJP supporters.
3. Inaccurate speculation about UK position
)
The UK on earlier denied that it had backed Pakistan and China in calling for the August 16 UN Security Council closed-door session on Kashmir, and stressed that all issues between India and Pakistan should be resolved bilaterally.
In a statement by the British High Commission in Delhi, the UK also said that it does not seek to mediate in the matter.
“There has been some inaccurate speculation about the UK position at the closed session of the UN Security Council on August 16 on Kashmir,” the statement said. “The UK did not call for this session or support a formal council statement, and we have a long-standing position that this dispute should be resolved bilaterally…
