Momen gets call from Pakistani counterpart

Pakistani Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi phoned his Bangladesh counterpart Dr AK Abdul Momen on Tuesday to discuss the current situation in Indian-occupied Kashmir. 

“The [Pakistani] Foreign Minister apprised his Bangladeshi counterpart of the illegal and unilateral actions of India to alter the disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir, which was in contravention of the international law and UNSC resolutions,” said a statement posted on the website of Foreign Ministry of Pakistan yesterday.

Qureshi “highlighted continuously deteriorating human rights and humanitarian situation in the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, including severe shortage of food and lifesaving medicines, communications blackout and complete lock-down for the last 30 days,” it added.

Bangladesh earlier described the matter of Jammu and Kashmir as an internal issue of India.

“Bangladesh maintains that the abrogation of Article 370 by the Indian government is an internal issue of India,” said the foreign affairs ministry on Bangladesh’s position on the issue, according to a UNB report.

Narendra Modi’s government on August 5 stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its semi-autonomy and statehood, creating two federal territories. The order revoked Article 370 of India’s Constitution, which gives the state of Jammu and Kashmir its own constitution and decision-making rights for all matters except for defence, communication and foreign affairs.