Islamabad: A day after India accused Pakistan of "forcible and illegal occupation" of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan army chief General Raheel Sharif said that Pakistan and Kashmir were "inseparable." Describing Kashmir as "an unfinished agenda of Partition" he linked lasting peace in the region to the resolution of the Kashmir problem as per the UN resolutions that call for a plebiscite in J&K.
"While we wish for peace and stability in the region, we want Kashmir's just resolution in the light of the United Nations resolutions and as per aspirations of the Kashmiri people to bring lasting peace in the region," he said while addressing a seminar at the National Defence University here.
The remarks came a day after India dismissed June 8 polls in Gilgit-Baltistan as Islamabad's "attempt to camouflage its forcible and illegal occupation of the region", which was part of the princely state of Kashmir before 1947.
Sharif said that contours of future wars were fast changing. "While our enemies are supporting terrorism to stoke sub-conventional conflicts and destabilize our country, we are fully determined, capable of defeating nefarious designs," he said.
He claimed Pakistan was opposed to the use proxies against other countries and would not allow any country to use proxies versus his country.
General Sharif's statement is the latest in the series of statements from Pakistan accusing India of stoking terrorism in Pakistan and destabilizing the country. Top government officials here have said India was attempting to sabotage Pakistan's $46 billion agreements with China.
Separately, Pakistani foreign office spokesperson Qazi Khalilullah said India maintained "its illegal hold on Jammu & Kashmir by suppressing Kashmiri Muslims and holding sham elections at gunpoint" while responding to his Indian counterpart's statement on Gilgit-Baltistan.
He echoed Sharif and said the Kashmir dispute stems from India's "constant refusal" to implement the UN resolutions, "which provide for a just solution of the Kashmir issue".
"Kashmir is an internationally recognized dispute, pending final settlement through a free and impartial plebiscite under the UN auspices, as enshrined in numerous UN resolutions," he said. "Under these resolutions no material change is allowed. Yet India, in complete violation of these resolutions, calls it a state of the union.
