India has urged Pakistan to review its decision to suspend bilateral trade and downgrade diplomatic relations over the revocation Article 370 giving special status to Jammu & Kashmir.
The Indian government has warned Islamabad that its attempts to interfere in the country’s jurisdiction by invoking an alarmist vision of the region will never succeed.
“The Government of India regrets the steps announced by Pakistan yesterday and would urge the country to review them so that the normal channels for diplomatic communication are preserved,” according to an official release issued by India’s Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday.
Pakistan, on Wednesday, also expelled India’s High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria in Islamabad and expressed its intention to take up the Kashmir issue with the UN Security Council.
The Samjhauta Express, that runs between the two countries, was stopped at the Wagah border on Thursday by Pakistan over ‘security concerns’, following which an Indian crew and guard escorted the train to Attari on the Indian side, according to an official statement from Indian Railways.
“There are about 110 passengers coming to India from Pakistan and nearly 70 passengers from our side going to Pakistan,” the statement said.
Justifying India’s decision to abrogate Article 370 and bifurcate the State into two Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh, the MEA release said the decisions were driven by a commitment to extending to J&K the opportunities for development that were earlier denied by a temporary provision of the Constitution.
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“Its impact would also result in the removal of gender and socio-economic discrimination. It is also expected to result in an upswing of economic activity and improvement in the livelihood prospects of the people of J&K,” it said. “The recent developments pertaining to Article 370 are entirely an internal affair of India. The Constitution of India was, is and will always be a sovereign matter. Seeking to interfere in that jurisdiction by invoking an alarmist vision of the region will never succeed,” it said.
Earlier this week, the Congress Working Committee officially criticised t government’s action and stated that it was “unilateral, brazen and totally undemocratic”.
It added that it was a dictatorial move to dismember J&K “by misinterpreting the provisions of the Constitution”.