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People Of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir Will Want To 'Merge With India': Rajnath Singh

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh asserted that the ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir has improved significantly. In the interview, he adds that Pakistan is trying to destabilise India but we will not allow it to happen.

Times Now Digital

Updated May 5, 2024, 12:52 IST

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh On Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir

Photo : PTI

New Delhi: India will never give up its claim on Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK). However, it won't have to capture it by force as its people, on their own, would want to be a part of India after seeing the development in Kashmir, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said.

In an interview with PTI, Singh asserted that the ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir has improved significantly. He added that a time will come when Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) will no longer be required in the Union Territory.

The Defence Minister said that the matter is under the domain of the Union Home Ministry and it will take appropriate decisions. He said elections will also be held there definitely, but did not give a timeline.

"I think India will not have to do anything. The way the ground situation has changed in Jammu and Kashmir, the way the region is witnessing economic progress and the way peace has returned there, I think demands will emerge from people of PoK that they should merge with India," he said.

"We will not have to use force to take PoK as people would say that we must be merged with India. Such demands are now coming," he said. The defence minister asserted that "PoK was, is, and will remain ours".

The way the situation is improving in Jammu and Kashmir, I think a time will come when AFSPA will no longer be required there. It is my view and it is for the Home Ministry to decide on it," he said.

He emphasised that Islamabad must stop cross border terrorism. "They are trying to destabilise India and we will not allow it to happen," the defence minister said, referring to Pakistan's proxy war in the area.

The ties between India and Pakistan came under severe strain after India's warplanes pounded a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp in Balakot, Pakistan in February 2019 as a response to the Pulwama terror attack.

The relations further deteriorated after India on August 5, 2019 announced the withdrawal of special powers of Jammu and Kashmir and the bifurcation of the state into two union territories.

India has maintained that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan. Meanwhile, it has stressed that the onus is on Islamabad to create an environment free of terror and hostility for such an engagement.

(With Inputs From PTI)

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