Fernandes Pledges To Reclaim Pok

Reiterating a resolution passed by parliament, Union defence minister George Fernandes has said that India should reclaim the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), but has set no time limit for the same. He has also ruled out converting the Line of Control (LoC) into an international border with Pakistan.

"There is a part of Jammu and Kashmir which is occupied by Pakistan, and that part has to be reclaimed'', Fernandes told Eenadu TV in an interview.

Asked whether the LoC should be converted into an international border taking into account the ground realities, he said: "That is not the position of the government".

 

According to the transcript of the interview, he said: "There is some part of Jammu and Kashmir which is lying with China.

That is also a factor which can't be lightly dismissed. That is the ground reality. Now if one talks, discusses and debates, what emerges out of that is too premature at the moment to guess even".

On the recent massacres in Doda and Prankote in Jammu and Kashmir, the defence minister said: "There seems to be a sinister design on the part of our neighbour, who has been sending mercenaries into this region of Kashmir and the effort seems to be to create a Hindu-Muslim confrontation in the Doda region. Fortunately, so far they have not been successful''.