British MP backs India on Kashmir, says Pak forces must leave PoK

Ahead of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan address at the UNGA on September 27, where he said he will raise the Kashmir issue for global attention, British MP Bob Blackman extended support to India saying that Islamabad must vacate Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and that India has a sovereign right over the entire region.

Countering the Pakistan government’s plan to move a UN resolution in the wake of India’s abrogation of Article 370, the Conservative MP reasserted that the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is a part of sovereign India.

Speaking at a UK-based Kashmiri Pandit gathering, he said, “People who ask for UN resolution to be implemented ignore the first resolution, which is that Pakistani military forces should leave Kashmir to re-unite the state.” He was attending the ‘Balidan Divas’ of Day of Sacrifice event organised in London by the Kashmiri Pandits Cultural Society and All India Kashmiri Samaj (AIKS).

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The North London MP has been speaking in favour of India since August 5 when the central government decided to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. He had also accused Labour Party MPs of making provocative statements against India.

He said that he strongly supports the revocation of Article 370 and that Narendra Modi has again shown proper and strong leadership in honouring the manifesto of the BJP. “Now is the time to properly integrate Jammu and Kashmir into the Indian Constitution, he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

After the Pulwama terror attacks and the Balakot air strike by India in February, tensions between India and Pakistan rose to an all-time last month after New Delhi abrogated Article 370 and bifurcated Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories.

The move drew sharp reactions from Pakistan as it downgraded diplomatic relations with India while India maintained that Kashmir was an “internal matter” of the country.

(With inputs from agencies)