New Delhi: Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said today that Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) belongs to India and that "one day we expect to have physical jurisdiction over it." He also said there was no need to "worry" beyond a point about what people would say about Jammu and Kashmir and that India's position on its national issues prevails. Recently, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu made comparable statements in the context of Pakistan's efforts to internationalise Kashmir following India's decision to end Jammu and Kashmir's unique status under Article 370 and to divide it into two Union Territories. Pakistan has condemned the action and has vowed to take it up at the UN.
On the option of meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan PM Imran Khan later this month at the session of the UN General Assembly in New York, the minister said: "Just look at the climate of relations right now and that should give you the response." "Don't worry about what people are going to say about Jammu and Kashmir. India's stance has been clear since 1972. My stance will prevail over my problem. I've spent a lot of my working life dealing with the U.S. Congress. They say a lot of things because people go to individual members and say ' you have to say this '."
