Pakistan will ‘go to any extent’ to fight India’s plan for Kashmir

The Indian territory remains in lockdown amid a communications blackout, with landline connections, internet and mobile coverage all suspended. Tens of thousands of additional Indian troops have also been deployed into the already heavily militarized region to head off unrest, following Tuesday’s parliamentary vote in Delhi to change the status of Jammu and Kashmir from a state to a union territory, thereby removing its autonomy and placing it under the direct control of Delhi. The controversial vote was met with outcry from Pakistan, which also claims Kashmir and described the move as illegal.”Pakistan never recognized the sham Indian efforts to legalize its occupation of Jammu and Kashmir through Article 370 or 35-A decades ago, efforts which have now been revoked by India itself,” said Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff Qamar Javed Bajwa on Tuesday, referring to the Indian constitutional provision that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir.The scrapping of Article 370 will also allow non-residents to purchase property in the valley, and apply for jobs or scholarships that had previously been reserved for the state’s residents — a move experts fear could lead to a demographic change in Hindu-dominated India’s only Muslim-majority state.The remote mountainous region of Ladakh, currently part of Jammu and Kashmir, will also be separated and turned into a standalone union territory, the government said.”Pakistan Army firmly stands by the Kashmiris in their just struggle to the very end. We are prepared and shall go to any extent to fulfill our obligations in this regard,” Bajwa said.Relations between the nuclear powers of India and Pakistan have been strained since February, when Pakistan reportedly shot down two Indian fighter jets over Kashmir and captured one of the pilots. India said it had retaliated by shooting down a Pakistani jet, which fell on the Pakistan side of the border.Pakistan released the captive pilot in March and the situation calmed — but India’s Kashmir vote has inflamed tensions again. On Tuesday Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan also condemned India’s decision, accusing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party of believing “that Muslims should be ethnically cleansed in India.””If the world does not act now, if the so-called developed world does not uphold its own laws, then things will go to a place that will damage the whole world,” said Khan, who added he would lobby the United Nations Security Council about the issue.Earlier on Monday, Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary had summoned India’s High Commissioner to convey “a strong demarche” on the Kashmir vote, it said in a statement.Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs “strongly” condemned India revoking Article 370 and would “exercise all possible options to counter the illegal steps,” a ministry statement said. ]]]]>]]>China, which controls about 20% of the Kashmir region, has also protested India’s decision, with the Chinese Foreign Ministry accusing India of encroaching on Chinese territorial sovereignty.Spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Tuesday that scrapping Article 370 “is unacceptable and will have no effect,” and urged India to “strictly abide by the relevant agreements reached by both sides.”China has close economic, diplomatic and military ties with Pakistan, making it one of the nation’s closest allies in region.India’s foreign ministry responded that the bill was “an internal matter concerning the territory of India. India does not comment on the internal affairs of other countries and similarly expects other countries to do likewise.”Kashmir on lockdownKashmir is one of the world’s most dangerous flashpoints, and has been the epicenter for more than 70 years of an often violent territorial conflict between the Pakistan and India. The mountainous Kashmir region was free to accede to either India or Pakistan after the two countries separated in 1947. When the Hindu king of Jammu and Kashmir chose to join India in exchange for military protection, it became the country’s only Muslim-majority state.The India-controlled Jammu and Kashmir state covers around 45% of Kashmir, in the south and east of the region, while Pakistan controls Azad Kashmir, Gilgit and Baltistan, which cover around 35% of the total territory in the north and west.Skirmishes along the de-facto border between Indian-controlled Kashmir and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, known as the Line of Control, continue to break out periodically. Earlier this year, two Pakistani soldiers were killed in cross-border fire with Indian forces, according to the country’s military. But with Jammu and Kashmir now on lockdown, and further change imminent, many Kashmiris are reeling with shock.”Unprecedented horror in Kashmir,” tweeted Shah Faesal, a prominent politician from Kashmir who arrived in New Delhi yesterday. “From citizens to subjects … A people whose land, identity, history, was stolen, in broad day light.”In addition to the communication blackout, a number of prominent politicians have also been placed under house arrest, including at least two former chief ministers of the state, according to CNN affiliate CNN-News18.Faesal was unable to reach or message the two former chief ministers, he said in a separate Facebook post.Until last week, Indian authorities had said the deployment of extra troops were in response to a potential security threat in the region. But residents were tense even before the announcement on Monday, rushing to secure essential supplies. Now, with news of the bill confirmed, “people are in shock,” Faesal wrote.”Everyone is mourning what we lost … It’s the loss of statehood that has hurt people deeply. This is being seen as the biggest betrayal by the Indian state in last 70 years.”Nikhil Kumar, Swati Gupta, Manveena Suri, Mukhtar Ahmad and Helen Regan contributed reporting.