India weighs formal protest over EU-Pakistan joint statement referencing Jammu and Kashmir

New Delhi: India has taken strong objection to a Pakistan-EU joint statement that mentioned the Jammu & Kashmir issue and the government is contemplating to raise the matter and register its objections at a senior level of the European Union, persons familiar with the matter indicated to ET.

The Narendra Modi government is upset with the EU for agreeing to Pakistan's suggestion for inclusion of references to J&K in a joint statement after a EU-Pakistan strategic dialogue in Islamabad.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Tuesday stated India "categorically rejects" the inclusion of what it termed "unwarranted and misplaced commentary" on the union territories, reiterating that Jammu and Kashmir, along with Ladakh, are "integral and inalienable" parts of India.


He further emphasised that no external entity has any "locus standi" to comment on matters relating to India's sovereignty or internal administration.

India is irked that instead of any references to cross-border terror that originates from Pakistan, EU foreign policy head Kaja Kallas endorsed Islamabad's efforts to internationalise the Jammu and Kashmir issue.

That she sought to visit Pakistan and laud its leadership within a fortnight of Modi's four-nation Europe trip was a matter of surprise.

The European Union and India had even signed a Security and Defence Partnership (SDP) on the margins of the EU-India Summit.

Meanwhile, Jaiswal lauded India's strong ties with Russia, including in the sphere of economy and trade. "With Russia, you know we have very strong ties including in several areas, economic and trade being one of them, and these ties have been expanding in recent times," Jaiswal said in response to a question on Tuesday on India's participation in the ongoing St Petersburg International Economic Forum this week.

Last week, national security advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval visited Moscow and met close aides of President Vladimir Putin to further defence, energy, security and maritime infrastructure partnership.