J&K is integral part of India, no intervention from outside will be accepted, says IOC

The Indian Overseas Congress condemned the Kashmir resolution passed at UK’s Labour Party annual conference on October 8 and clarified that no outsiders can interfere in the affairs of Jammu and Kashmir.

London: After a controversy broke out on Thursday over its members meeting Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, Indian Overseas Congress (IOC) has clarified in a statement that they had, in fact, expressed concern and condemned the Kashmir resolution passed at the Labour Party annual conference.

"We expressed our concern and condemned the Kashmir resolution passed at Labour Party annual conference and also our Spokesperson Sudhakar Goud made it clear that J&K is an integral part of India, no intervention from outside will be accepted," a statement undersigned by Sudhakar Goud, Spokesperson, IOC UK said.

Asserting that the IOC team met Corbyn only as per an invitation from the Labour Party president, the statement read, "IOC has also raised concerns with regards to the security situation concerning Indian communities in the UK, Eg: recent attack on Indian High Commission during the independence day celebration, we (Indian Diaspora) believe that the London Mayor Sadiq Khan was behind these forces."

In its statement, the IOC said the root cause of unrest in Kashmir stems out of Pakistan.

"We urged Mr Corbyn to put pressure on Pakistan to stop funding, providing training to terrorist groups in Pakistan immediately. Based on our discussions with Mr Corbyn, we believe that there will be an appropriate response addressing the concerns raised by IOC with regards to the Labour party Resolution on Kashmir including withdrawal of the resolution," it said.

BJP had on Thursday hit out at the Congress after a delegation of the opposition party's UK representatives met Corbyn and discussed the "human rights situation in Kashmir".

Terming it as 'appalling' the BJP had said India will give a befitting reply to the Congress for these 'shameful shenanigans.'

Meanwhile, the Indian Overseas Congress hit back at the 'malicious' statement by the BJP, which it said was "another attempt to distract people from their failures."

"Our meeting with @jeremycorbyn was held to condemn the Kashmir resolution passed by his Party & to reiterate that J&K is an internal matter & outside intervention will not be accepted," the Indian Overseas Congress had tweeted.

Corbyn put out a tweet about the very 'productive meeting' he had with the Congress delegation and called for 'de-escalation' and end of 'cycle of violence' in the region.

"A very productive meeting with UK representatives from the Indian Congress Party where we discussed the human rights situation in Kashmir. There must be de-escalation and an end to the cycle of violence and fear which has plagued the region for so long," the British politician had posted.

On September 26, Britain's opposition Labour Party had passed an emergency resolution on Kashmir at the party's annual conference in Brighton which called for the entry of international observers into the region.

The motion was a response to the decision by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bifurcate Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories and withdraw the region's special status under Article 370.

Even at that time, the BJP strongly condemned the move and termed it a blatant interference in India's internal matter.

The UK government's official stance on Kashmir is that it remains a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan.

Last month, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had quoted the Congress while launching an attack on New Delhi over the Kashmir issue. He had even mentioned the Congress party during his speech in the UN General Assembly in New York last month.