The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Saturday ‘took serious note’ of the visit by the British High Commissioner of Pakistan Jane Marriott along with a UK Foreign Office official to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The ‘highly objectionable visit’ was taken by the officials on January 10, 2024.
The Foreign Secretary has lodged a strong protest with the British High Commissioner in India on this infringement, informed the MEA in a statement. Condemning the act, the MEA said, “Such infringement of India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity is unacceptable.”
This comes after British envoy Jane Marriott visited Mirpur city in the PoK region along with an official of the UK Foreign Office.
Sharing pictures from her visit to Mirpur, she wrote, “Salaam from Mirpur, the heart of the UK and Pakistan’s people to people ties! 70% of British Pakistani roots are from Mirpur, making our work together crucial for diaspora interests. Thank you for your hospitality!”
Earlier, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that Pakistan’s core policy has been to ‘use cross-border terrorism to bring India to the table’, adding that India made that policy irrelevant by ‘not playing that game now’.
In an interview with news agency ANI, Jaishankar said, “What Pakistan was trying to do, not now but over multiple decades, was really to use cross-border terrorism to bring India to the table. That, in essence, was its core policy. We have made that irrelevant by not playing that game now.”
ALSO READ | India, Pakistan exchange lists of nuclear installations and prisoners in their respective jails
