Pakistan can't hold sway over what is an integral part of India: Khurshid

After the Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh yesterday said that it is India's responsibility to get Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan freed from Pakistan's illegal occupation and restore its lost glory, Congress senior leader and former external affairs minister Salman Khurshid on Sunday said there is no way anyone will accept that Pakistan can hold sway over what is an integral part of India and an integral part of Jammu and Kashmir.

"There is no way that anyone will accept that Pakistan can hold sway over what is an integral part of India and an integral part of Jammu and Kashmir. But, I think, he (Jitendra Singh) is possibly new to his job and he should know that way back in the 90s, Parliament passed a unanimous resolution, saying exactly this, and Parliament and this country, have been committed to that," Khurshid told ANI.

However, questioning the use of term "our responsibility" by Jitendra Singh, Khurshid said, "When he says it's 'our responsibility', does it mean his, his government's or the nation; I think, it's a nation's responsibility and we all are part of it and we all support it."

"PoJK is as much a part of Jammu and Kashmir as are Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh and also Gilgit-Baltistan. However, the fact, which doesn't come to the mind of many people, is that the entire area of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir was 2.25 lakh square kilometers, of which only one lakh square kiolmeters is a part of India. Therefore, it is our responsibility to get PoJK and Gilgit-Baltistan freed from Pakistan's illegal occupationn and restore the lost glory of Jammu and Kashmir," Singh told ANI on Saturday.

Slamming Pakistan for perpetrating violence in Jammu and Kashmir by exporting home-grown terrorists, Singh said, "Pakistan has been unmasked before the world. The entire world knows that all conspiracies are being hatched in Islamabad. Pakistan is encouraging terrorism on its soil and exporting terrorists to India, especially in Jammu and Kashmir and some misguided elements are becoming its part."

Stressing on the need to sensitise the youth of Jammu and Kashmir, Singh said, "On the one hand, our responsibility is to defeat Pakistan's design, while on the other hand, we have to sensitise our youth. If the so-called jihad is so pious, then people who are inciting the youth in the name of jihad and 'jannat' (heaven) why don't they give this pious opportunity to their children. They have already sent their children to Bengaluru, Pune and abroad.