NEW DELHI, April 17 – India on Thursday dismissed remarks by Pakistan’s army chief referring to Kashmir as Islamabad’s “jugular vein”, calling the statement untenable and reiterating that the region is an integral part of India.
“How can anything foreign be in a jugular vein?” India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters in New Delhi. “Its only relationship with Pakistan is the vacation of illegally occupied territories by that country,” he added.
The comments were in response to Pakistani Army Chief General Asim Munir, who earlier this week told a gathering of overseas Pakistanis that Kashmir remains central to Islamabad’s interests and identity. “It was our jugular vein, it will be our jugular vein,” Munir said, adding, “We will not leave our Kashmiri brothers in their heroic struggle.”
Munir’s speech reinforced Pakistan’s long-standing position on the Kashmir dispute and invoked the two-nation theory that underpinned the country’s creation in 1947. He urged members of the diaspora to uphold Pakistan’s values and “superior ideology and culture.”
The Indian government, however, said such statements only serve to fuel hostility. The MEA reiterated that Jammu and Kashmir is a Union Territory of India and any claim to the contrary is a violation of Indian sovereignty.
Relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours remain tense, with diplomatic ties strained over long-standing territorial disputes and cross-border security issues. India accuses Pakistan of supporting cross-border militancy, a charge Islamabad denies. Kashmir, divided between the two countries since 1947, remains a flashpoint and has been the cause of two wars between them.
