American envoy’s visit to PoK sparks geopolitical row; India raises concerns with US over Kashmir dispute

India on Thursday said that it has raised concerns with the US over the American Ambassador to Pakistan visiting parts of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) last month.

Speaking to media persons, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that India's position regarding the entire union territory of Jammu and Kashmir being an integral part of the country is well known.

"We would like to urge the international community to respect our sovereignty and territorial integrity," Bagchi said. The remarks came days after US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome visited Gilgit Baltistan region in PoK for six days last month.

"We have raised our concerns about that visit by the US ambassador of Pakistan with the US side," Bagchi said. He also dismissed US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti's remarks on the incident, where he had said that Blome had earlier too been part of delegation to the region during G20 summit.

Bagchi said that the two situations are not equivalent.

Earlier, US-India ties were put to test when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sparked allegations against the Modi government for being involved in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Khalistani separatist leader.

Trudeau said that the report of India’s involvement in Nijjar’s killing was provided by the Five Eyes Alliance, which is an intelligence agency including experts from five countries -  Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

(With IANS inputs)

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