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PoK Is, Was and Will Remain Part of India: Rajnath Singh

Rajnath Singh stressed that by illegally occupying the PoK, Pakistan cannot make of it a locus standi.

Sentinel Digital Desk

JAMMU: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said in Jammu on Monday that Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) is, was and will always remain a part of India and nothing will achieved by the Pakistan government by repeatedly claiming PoK.

Rajnath Singh stressed that by illegally occupying the PoK, Pakistan cannot make of it a locus standi. "A unanimous resolution has been passed in the Parliament of India regarding PoK that it is a part of India only. Not one but at least three proposals of this intention have now been passed in the Parliament," Singh said.

The Union Defence Minister said this while was addressing a "security conclave" organized at Jammu University on internal and external dimensions of the country's defence mechanism, with a particular focus on J&K.

He said that a large part of Jammu and Kashmir is under the occupation of Pakistan. People on that side are seeing that people in J-K are living their lives peacefully. On the other hand, people living in POK are going through a lot of suffering and they will raise demand to go with India, Singh said.

Talking about the abrogation of Article 370 in J&K, Singh said that by abrogating the article, BJP has done justice to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, who were being treated unfairly for decades.

He went on to say that because of Article 370 and 35A, the common people of Jammu and Kashmir had been kept away from the mainstream of the country for a long time and it was proving to be a hindrance in taking action against any anti-national force.

He further said that the decision of abrogation of Article 370 has made the general public happy.

"The trouble is only for those whose shop of hatred and separatism is getting closed," Singh said.

He also said they have managed to stop the funding of terrorism, halted the supply of weapons and drugs and that, along with the elimination of terrorists, the work of dismantling the network of underground workers working here is also being done.

Singh further said that the government started effective action against terrorism under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and not only the country but the world has come to know the meaning of Zero Tolerance against Terrorism.

He explained that AFSPA has been removed from large parts of North East, having successfully controlled the problem of insurgency in India’s Northeast. “I am waiting for the day when there will be Permanent Peace in J-K and there will be a chance to remove AFSPA from here too," he said.

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