New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday raised concerns with the US regarding an American envoy's recent visit to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir while noting that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of the country. Addressing a weekly media briefing here in the national capital, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, "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. We have raised our concerns about that visit by the US ambassador of Pakistan with the US side," Bagchi added. The remarks come days after US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome visited the PoK region for six days. Bagchi further dismissed US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti's remarks regarding the visit.
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Earlier, Garcetti defended the ambassador's visit saying that the US envoy had also previously been a part of the delegation in Jammu and Kashmir during the G20 Summit. Responding to this, MEA spoksperson Arindam Bagchi said that the two situations are not equivalent. The US ambassador to Pakistan Donald 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.
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