ISLAMABAD: Jailed former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that India’s Supreme Court verdict upholding the abrogation of Article 370 would “further complicate” the Kashmir issue. The Supreme Court on Monday unanimously upheld the Center government’s August 2019 decision to abrogate Article 370, which granted special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Khan, who has been imprisoned in Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, said in a message that the Indian high court ruling was an absolute violation of UN Security Council resolutions, his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party said in a post on X.
Khan “made it clear that the controversial and illegal decision by the Indian high court would further complicate the Kashmir issue rather than help resolve the decades-long conflict,” he added.
He promised that his party would continue to provide full diplomatic, moral and political support to the people of Kashmir.
Khan, called by his party “life president of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI),” recalled that the Kashmir issue was the main bone of contention between Pakistan and India.
He highlighted that the then PTI government led by him had reacted strongly when India attempted to alter Kashmir’s special status in 2019, referring to the degradation of bilateral diplomatic relations.
Khan added that he wanted to establish good ties with India while putting national interests first. However, after August 5, 2019, it was not possible because “we did not want to compromise with the aspirations” of the Kashmiri people, he said.