India raises concerns with US over American envoy’s visit to PoK

NEW DELHI: The ministry of external affairs on Thursday said that India has raised concerns with US over an American ambassador’s recent visit to Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK).
Addressing a media briefing, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that India’s position regarding the entire Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir being an integral part of the country is well known.
“We would like to urge the international community to respect our sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Bagchi said.
The remarks come days after US ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome visited the PoK region for six days.
“We have raised our concerns about that visit by the US ambassador of Pakistan with the US side,” Bagchi said.
He also dismissed US ambassador to India Eric Garcetti’s remarks regarding the visit.
Garcetti had earlier defended the ambassador’s visit, saying that the US envoy had also previously been a part of the delegation in J&K during the G20 summit.
Responding to the statement, Bagchi said that the two situations are not equivalent.
Blome was on a six-day visit to Gilgit-Baltistan during which he visited different areas and met local representatives as well as government officials.
India has maintained that PoK is an integral part of the country.
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