Pak army chief's Kashmir 'jugular vein' comment "unacceptable": Khurshid

Terming as "unacceptable" Pakistan Army chief Raheel Sharif's remark describing Kashmir as "jugular vein" of his country, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid today asserted Kashmir was an integral part of India and there can be no "remotest way" in which it will accept any attempt to put a question mark over it.

Khurshid said all political parties have very specifically and very categorically "repudiated" whatever has been said by Sharif.

"We acknowledge that and we associate ourselves with the commonly held position, the common position in our country that Kashmir is an integral part of our country, it is part of the idea of India, and there can be no remotest way in which we will accept any attempt to qualify that or to put a question mark on that. That should be categorically clear," Khurshid said.

The External Affairs Minister Sharif mentioned Kashmir in "a manner which is unwholesome and unacceptable." He said the "tone and tenor of the speeches" that have been made are "completely and totally unacceptable" to India.

"I think that these are matters that, frankly, it is not for me to advise them but are best left to bilateral discussions between civilian authorities. This is not the realm of the armed forces to be discussing publicly," he said.

Khurshid said Pakistan armed forces should focus on combating terrorism.