India lodges 'strong protest' with Pakistan over amendments to 'Azad Jammu and Kashmir Constitution'

India lodges 'strong protest' with Pakistan over amendments to 'Azad Jammu and Kashmir Constitution'

New Delhi: India said it has lodged a strong protest with Islamabad over any "action to alter the status" of territories illegally occupied by Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir and asked it to vacate all such areas.

It was reacting to the changes to the 'Azad Jammu and Kashmir Interim Constitution' (13th Amendment) Act, 2018, which abolished the AJK Councils' administrative and financial powers, reducing it to an advisory body.

India, Pakistan flagsRepresentational image. Reuters It was clearly conveyed that the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir, which also includes the "so-called Azad Jammu and Kashmir" is an integral part of India by virtue of its accession in 1947, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a a statement. "Any action to alter the status of any part of the territory under forcible and illegal occupation of Pakistan has no legal basis whatsoever, and is completely unacceptable. "Instead of seeking to alter the status of the occupied territories, Pakistan should immediately vacate all areas under its illegal occupation," the statement said.