Govt defends use of 'Indian-administered' J&K by US

Congress slammed Modi Govt for not objecting to the usage of the term, but MEA says it was used by the US in the past too

The Government has stated that the US Administration had used the term “Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir” in a recent statement is just to refer to cross-border terrorism launched against India from Pakistan.

The Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement in New Delhi on Thursday to point out that the US State Department had used the same term in the past too.

The opposition Congress slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Government for not objecting to the use of the term “Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir” by the US State Department in a statement during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Washington DC for his maiden meeting with American President Donald Trump.

The US State Department had used the term in the statement it issued announcing the designation of the Pakistan-based chief of terror organisation Hizbul Mujahideen, Syed Salahuddin, as a global terrorist.

“Under Salahuddin’s tenure as senior HM (Hizbul Mujahideen) leader, (the) HM has claimed responsibility for several attacks, including the April 2014 explosives attack in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, which injured 17 people,” the US State Department said in the statement issued on June 26.

“The use of the term ‘Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir’ merely affirms our position that Syed Salahuddin has been involved in cross-border terrorism against India,” Gopal Baglay, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said in a statement on Thursday.

The Congress had pointed out that the use of the term “Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir” by the US State Department had been contradictory to New Delhi’s stand that the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir had been and would remain an integral part of India.

“Shocking that the US Government’s order on Syed Salahuddin refers to ‘Indian Administered J&K’. No protest from Modi government. Complicit sell-out?” Randeep Surjewala, the spokesperson of the All India Congress Committee, posted on Twitter. “Modiji and BJP drumbeat and preach 'Pseudo Nationalism' every day. India asks - why have you accepted US phrase of ‘Indian-administered J&K’?” he added in another post.

The Government, however, sought to defend itself on Thursday, pointing it out that the US State Department had used the term “Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir” in its annual country reports on terrorism issued during the previous years, including between 2010 and 2013 – a period when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance was in power in New Delhi. 

“Similar term has been used in the State Department's country reports on terrorism brought out every year, including in the period 2010 - 2013, in the context of cross-border terrorism perpetrated on India. India's consistent position that the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India is well known,” said Baglay.

The MEA spokesperson said that India had welcomed the US Administration’s move to designate Syed Salahuddin as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist”. “This long-awaited step had been under discussion,” he said.

 Baglay also claimed that the joint statement issued on June 26 after Prime Minister’s talks with US President was “the strongest joint expression of the commitment” by India and America “to be shoulder-to-shoulder in the fight against terrorism”. He said that the recent India-US joint statement called on Pakistan to ensure that its territory was not used to launch terrorist attacks on other countries.