'Govt has asked China to cease its activities in PoK'

The government today said it has asked China to cease its activities in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and has raised its concern at the "highest level".
In a written reply to Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for External Affairs Gen V K Singh (Retd) said China is assisting Pakistan in the development of the so-called "China Pakistan Economic Corridor" (CPEC).
"Some of the proposed projects under CEPC are in PoK," he said, adding that Pakistan has been in illegal occupation of parts of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir since 1947.
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Replying to a separate question on whether India can nominate an expert to UN Security Council 1267 Sanctions Committee, Singh said 15 members of the UN Security Council constitute its membership.

India is currently not a member of the UNSC and thereby is not a member of the Committee.

"A 10 member 'Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team' (Monitoring Team) comprising independent experts assists the Sanction Committee. Depending on the vacancies available India and all other member states could forward nominations of their nationals to serve on the Monitoring Team," he said.
Singh said the name of an Indian expert was forwarded in February and final selections are made by the UN Secretariat based on their assessment of the individual qualifications.
To a separate question, he said as per information provided by the Kuwaiti authorities, 1700 Indian nationals were arrested and deported during a security campaign carried out by the Director General for Residency Affairs between December 1, 2015 and February 21.

Replying to another question, Singh said, on April 13, the US Department of State in its reports on Human Rights Practices for 199 countries and territories, including India, had made allegations regarding certain instances of violation of human rights in India.
"The Indian Constitution guarantees fundamental rights to all its citizens. Any instances of abuse of human rights are addressed by our internal processes which include independent judiciary, vibrant press, civil society and National Human Rights Commission. India does not take cognizance of internal reports of a foreign country," he said.
To another query, Singh said as on April, there are 35 consultants working in the Ministry of External Affairs. They are engaged for periods ranging from 3 months to 3 years and deployed in different divisions of the Ministry.