Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh claimed on Sunday that soon people from “Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK)” will demand to be part of India and refuse to remain under the control of Islamabad after witnessing the developments in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Our government will carry out so much development in Jammu and Kashmir that the people of PoK (Pakistan occupied Kashmir) will demand to be part of India and not under the occupation of Pakistan, and the day this happens, a goal of our Parliament will also be accomplished," he said while addressing the ‘Jammu Jan Samvad rally’ via video-conferencing.
Singh was praising the historic decision to scrap the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, a move which created ripples in politics at an international level, when he said that the “fate of people of Jammu and Kashmir will change in the years to come”.
India scrapped Article 370 of its Constitution, which addresses Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019. The provision had previously allowed the state's local legislature, the Constituent Assembly, to make its own laws.
However, reacting to India's decision on the abrogation of Article 370 of its Constitution in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan lodged a protest against New Delhi's move and downgraded diplomatic relations, suspending bilateral trade with India as well.
Singh also slammed opposition parties for playing politics by questioning the India-China conflict and promised that India will not compromise on “national pride".
“We are in talks with China at diplomatic and military levels. China too has expressed a wish to resolve this issue through dialogue. I would like to inform the opposition that our government won’t keep anyone in the dark,” he said, adding “I promise you that we won’t compromise with national pride in any situation.”
Troops from India and China have been in a standoff since the last week of April, when Beijing raised objections over infrastructure development by India along the border. The current standoff is the longest since the 2017 Doklam issue.