“Every political party is committed to ensuring the return of PoK to India”: External Affairs Minister Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said every political party in the country is “committed to ensuring that PoK, which is part of India, comes back to India” and “the issue of PoK has come to the forefront of people’s thinking” “. After the removal of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, which was considered a difficult decision.

Interacting with students at Gargi College here, the minister said people had assumed that Article 370 could not be changed because the politics of that time had deeply ingrained it in the public consciousness.

Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was abrogated by the BJP-led government in August 2019.

“Even take (Article) 370, people just assume that 370 cannot be changed and that is something we have to accept because the politics of that time has deeply ingrained it in the public consciousness. Has reached till. Now we see, once we change it the entire ground situation changes,” Jaishankar said.

“All I can say with regard to PoK is that there is a Parliament resolution, every political party in this country is committed to ensuring that PoK, which is part of India, comes back to India. This is indeed our national commitment but I definitely want to say one thing. Ten years ago, or even five years ago, people didn’t ask us about this. When we have put an end to 370, now people have understood, yes PoK is also important.

Jaishankar said that the first condition for anything to happen is that it should first be in your thoughts.

“What has happened today is that because we have finally taken the right decision on 370, today in the minds of our own people, the issue of PoK has come to the forefront of their thinking. As they say, the prerequisite for something to happen is that it must first be in your thoughts. Once that comes into your thoughts, the rest will definitely follow at some point,” he said.

Meanwhile, in view of the deteriorating economic situation in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, political and human rights organizations have taken out a long march and called for a strike on May 11 to raise the issues faced by the local people in Muzaffarabad in PoJK Is. ,

United Kashmir People’s National Party (UKPNP) and Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) in a joint statement issued earlier announced that the march will raise issues like skyrocketing inflation, severe unemployment, cancellation of subsidy on wheat and flour, unfair load shedding, etc. , exploitation of PoJK’s natural resources and special and unjust privileges being given to the civil bureaucracy in PoJK.

Stressing that people have not received their wages and pensions, PoJK activist Amjad Ayub Mirza said, “And now to thwart the strike, the Pakistani administration has sent a request for deployment to PoK’s puppet PM Chaudhary Anwarul Haq. Ordered to be issued.” of Punjab Province Police and Frontal Corps in PoJK.