Pakistan rejects India scrapping Art 370, says will take up issue with US delegation

"Rejecting" India's decision to scrap Article 370 that provided special status to Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Monday said that they would take up the issue with the delegation of US officials visiting the country very soon.

The Foreign Minister took to Twitter saying that Pakistan "condemns and rejects" announcements made today by the Indian government regarding the status of Jammu and Kashmir.

"We intend to firmly highlight our stance in our meetings with the US delegation visiting Pakistan and with the international community at large," he added.

Qureshi also said that Pakistan "reaffirms its abiding commitment to the Kashmir cause and its political, diplomatic and moral support" to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

Rattled by India's landmark decisions scrapping the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and converting the state into a Union Territory, Pakistan on said that it will exercise "all possible options" to counter the steps.

This statement from Islamabad comes hours after India scrapped Article 370 of the Constitution that gave a special status to Jammu and Kashmir and barred people from the rest of the country from buying property there.

The BJP-led Central government also converted Jammu and Kashmir into a Union Territory with the legislature, while hiving off Ladakh as a separate Union Territory without legislature.

"Pakistan reaffirms its abiding commitment to the Kashmir cause and its political, diplomatic and moral support to the people of Jammu and Kashmir for the realisation of their inalienable right to self-determination," the Pakistan Foreign Ministry said.