External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in New Delhi on Saturday strongly objected to a recent visit by London’s envoy to Islamabad, Jane Marriott, to Mirpur, which India claims to be a part of its Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and accuses Pakistan of illegally occupying.
Marriott visited Mirpur on January 10 – the day India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had called on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of the United Kingdom in London. Her visit to an area illegally occupied by Pakistan and claimed by India irked New Delhi, which called it “highly objectionable”.
Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra conveyed New Delhi’s view to the British High Commissioner to India, Alex Ellis, on Saturday.
New Delhi viewed the visit by the British High Commissioner in Islamabad to Mirpur as an “infringement of the sovereignty and territorial integrity” of India.
Marriott on January 10 took to X to make public her visit to Mirpur.
“Salaam from Mirpur, the heart of the UK and Pakistan’s people-to-people ties! 70% of British Pakistani roots are from Mirpur, making our work together crucial for diaspora interests. Thank you for your hospitality!” she wrote on the social media platform, posting some pictures of her visit to the city.
Islamabad claims Mirpur to be a part of the ‘Azad Kashmir’ region of Pakistan.
New Delhi, on the other hand, claims that the so-called ‘Azad Kashmir’ as well as Gilgit Baltistan regions were part of India’s Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir but under illegal occupation of Pakistan.
“The Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are, have been and shall always remain an integral part of India,” New Delhi conveyed to London, reasserting its territorial claims.
New Delhi claims that China is illegally occupying about 38,000 sq. km of India’s territory in Aksai Chin, which borders eastern Ladakh.
Besides, it also claims that Pakistan illegally ceded about 5,180 sq. km of India’s territory to China in 1963.
New Delhi had in October 2022 and September 2023 also protested against the visits of the envoy of Washington DC to Islamabad, Donald Blome, to India’s territory under the illegal occupation of Pakistan.
Blome had from October 2 to 4, 2022, visited the J&K areas illegally occupied by Pakistan, prompting India to convey to the US its strong objection through diplomatic channels.
He had added to the ire of New Delhi by repeatedly referring to the area as “Azad Jammu and Kashmir”, a term used by Pakistan, but rejected by India.
Blome had in September 2023 embarked on a six-day visit tour to Gilgit Baltistan, notwithstanding protests from New Delhi to his earlier visit.