No locus standi for Pakistan on Kashmir

Leh : Pakistan has no locus standi on Kashmir and no country is backing it on the "current issue", Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday amid Islamabad's efforts to internationalise the Centre's move to abrogate provisions of Article 370.

Addressing a DRDO event here, Singh asked how India can talk to Pakistan when it keeps trying to destabilise India using terror. India wants to have a good neighbourly relationship with Pakistan, but it should first stop exporting terror to India, Singh said.

"Pakistan has no locus standi on Kashmir. However, it is in illegal occupation of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, including Gilgit Baltistan," the minister said after inaugurating the 'Kisan- Jawan Vigyan Mela'.

Organised by Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR) DRDO, the 'Kisan Jawan Vigyan Mela' is a big step towards strengthening the strategic ecosystem in Ladakh, Singh said. Parliament had passed a unanimous resolution in February 1994 in which India's stand had been made clear, Singh said. "I want to ask Pakistan, when had Kashmir belonged to it.

Pakistan was also formed out of India," he said. India respects Pakistan's existence, but that does not mean that it can keep making statements on Kashmir, he said.